It came as something of a shock on Friday when the family of Raif Badawi announced that, after ten years, he was finally out of prison.

That was shocking largely because it seemed hard to believe this day would ever come.

A resident of Saudi Arabia, Badawi was first arrested in 2008 on charges of apostasy after the online forum he created, “Saudi Liberal Network,” began advancing relatively liberal ideas. Among other things, he questioned the treatment of women in society and openly challenged the idea that everyone needed to follow Islam. Human Rights Watch noted that the site was also “critical of senior religious figures.”