Amnesty International looking into claims made by Saudi blogger Raif Badawi's family that he is to be retried

Human rights organisation Amnesty International is looking into reports that a Saudi blogger faces being beheaded for renouncing Islam.

Raif Badawi was originally fined over £150,000 and sentenced to a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes over a period of 50 weeks for insulting the religion but his family this weekend said they have learned of attempts to retry him for apostasy, which carries the death sentence in Saudi Arabia.

A spokesperson for Amnesty, which has launched a petition to have Raif, who blogged about free speech, freed said: “The torment of facing each week the possibility of another brutal public flogging is an unimaginable torture.

“These latest rumours that the death penalty is a possibility again add to the nightmare.

We call on the world citizens and governments not to leave Raif dragged by such bigots to death

“Over a million people have called for Raif’s freedom. That should be the only development we’re hearing about.”

Raif received the first 50 of his 1000 lashes in front of al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah on 9 January.

He was due to be publiclly flogged once every week but doctors stepped in after the first round of punishment to say his wounds had not healed and was unfit to have the sentence carried out.

A statement released by the Badawi family said: “We have received information from reliable sources that there are attempts within the Penal Court to retry #Raifbadawi on apostasy charges again.

“We also received confirmed information that the Supreme Court has referred Raif case to the same judge, who sentenced Raif with flogging and 10 years imprisonment.

“We call on the world citizens and governments not to leave Raif dragged by such bigots to death. And we renew our calls to his Majesty King Salman to pardon Raif Badawi and allow him to leave [for] Canada to be united with his family there.”