Three weeks ago, 18 Nobel laureates sent a message demanding the release of Saudi blogger-activist Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, a fine equivalent to $267,000 and 10 years in prison. The flogging sentence, which started with 50 lashes in a public square on Jan. 9, stirred a global wave of sympathy.

On Jan. 20, eight US senators sent a letter to the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, urging him to end the punishment of Badawi and warning that this is set to endanger Saudi-US ties. By merely searching for the name Raif Badawi, one can find several reports and articles published by human rights organizations. One can also find links to awards that Badawi has received thanks to his activism and imprisonment, such as the PEN Canada One Humanity Award and the 2014 Netizen Prize by Reporters Without Borders. However, nothing personal can be found on him.

I have personally known Badawi for about six years now, and I know that his social connections were limited. The people who know him are either afraid to speak up, or they believe that he is not important enough to be the focus of an article or an interview. No one knows exactly who Raif Badawi is.

I met Badawi for the first time in the summer of 2009. Like all activists and bloggers, I had known him by name and ideas, but it was not until that summer that we met. He was famous but not very socially active. Badawi is a good listener. We talked about the electronic Lar newspaper project that he started with author Saad al-Salem. The newspaper closed after 1½ years.