Riyadh is recalling its ambassador in Ottawa for consultations, reported the official Saudi Press Agency.

In addition, the Saudi foreign ministry announced that it considered the Canadian ambassador to the kingdom persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within the next 24 hours, reported RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has decided to freeze new trade and investment with Canada.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland had tweeted that she was “very alarmed” to learn that Samar Badawi, the sister of jailed civil rights activists and blogger Raif Badawi, also had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, and she had called for the release of the both of them.

Raif Badawi was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for criticizing the kingdom’s clerics and religious police.

Also, he is charged with insulting Islam, committing cybercrimes, and disobeying his father—which is considered a crime in Saudi Arabia.