Amnesty International says it has received information that the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi jailed for insulting Islam has not was not carried after Friday prayers in Saudi Arabia on medical grounds.

The Amnesty International announcement came on January 15.

It was the day after U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the punishment of jailed blogger Badawi, who is undergoing a staggered public flogging of 1,000 lashes

"Raif Badawi was removed from his jail cell this morning and taken to the prison clinic for a medical check-up before his sentence was due to be carried out," AI said on its website.

"The doctor concluded that the wounds had not yet healed properly and that he would not be able to withstand another round of lashes at this time.

"He recommended that the flogging should be postponed until next week. It is unclear whether the authorities will fully comply with this demand."

He was flogged 50 times on January 9 and is reportedly due to be flogged again each Friday until his sentence of 1,000 lashes has been fully carried out.

"Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment," said Zeid who is the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on January 15.

"Such punishment is prohibited under international human rights law, in particular the Convention against Torture, which Saudi Arabia has ratified," Zeid said.

Amnesty International reported that the blogger was made to stand with his back to onlookers as another man began flogging him, witnesses said.

"Not only does this postponement on health grounds expose the utter brutality of this punishment, it underlines its outrageous inhumanity.

"The notion that Raif Badawi must be allowed to heal so that he can suffer this cruel punishment again and again is macabre and outrageous. Flogging should not be carried out under any circumstances," said Said Boumedouha, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Program.

'FLOGGING BANNED UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW'

"Flogging is prohibited under international law along with other forms of corporal punishment. His flogging appears to have been postponed for now but there is no way of knowing whether Saudi Arabia's authorities will fully comply with the doctor's advice. Raif Badawi is still at immediate risk."

AI said postponement of Raif Badawi flogging on medical grounds exposes shocking brutality of punishment.                       

Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a hefty fine for creating an online forum for public debate.

Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a hefty fine for creating an online forum for public debate.

"The notion that Raif Badawi must be allowed to heal so that he can suffer this cruel punishment again and again is macabre and outrageous. Flogging should not be carried out under any circumstances."

Reporters Without Borders said "Raef Badawi's only crime was to start a public debate on his blog about the way Saudi society is evolving, but he was sentenced for blasphemy.

"But he was given 50 lashes today before a crowd of spectators outside Jeddah's Al-Jafali Mosque and, in all, he is to receive a total of 1,000 lashes in 20 weekly sessions."