Raif Badawi, a liberal-minded Saudi Arabian who has founded the Free Saudi Liberals Web site, has been slapped with a seven year jail time as well as face 600 lashes for posting anti-government content over his online Internet site.

Saudi Arabian Web Site Forum Editor Slapped with 7yr Jail Time, 600 Lashes Over Anti-Government Content

Mr Badawi was arrested in June 2012 on a charge of insulting Islam through electronic channels. On December that same year, he was also cited for apostasy, a conviction which carries an automatic death sentence.

A judge in the Red Sea port of Jiddah, according to the local Al-Watan newspaper, imposed the sentence because Mr Badawi "violated Islamic values and propagated liberal thought" on the said Web site, ultimately angering Islamic authorities in the ultraconservative oil-rich kingdom.

The charges of apostasy however were dropped. Moreover, judge had also ordered the closure of the Web site, Al-Watan newspaper said.

Mr Badawi set up the Web site to discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia. However, as of the day his sentence was served on Tuesday, it remained unclear if he would receive credit for the time he has already spent in jail.

According to Human Rights Watch, Mr Badawi's Web site carried articles that criticised senior religious figures such as the Grand Mufti.

Mr Badawi was "a prisoner of conscience detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression," Amnesty International earlier described his predicament.