Female journalist lashed for sex story
Source: Agencies |
October 26, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SAUDI court sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes after she had been charged with involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex.
Rozanna al-Yami, 22, is believed to be the first female Saudi journalist to be given such a punishment, but there were conflicting accounts about how the court issued its verdict.
Al-Yami, who worked as a coordinator for the program but denied working on the sex-show episode, said it was her understanding that the judge in the western city of Jiddah dropped the charges against her. They included involvement in the preparation of the show and advertising the segment on the Internet.
Deterrent
But she said he still handed down the lashing sentence "as a deterrence." "I am too frustrated and upset to appeal the sentence," al-Yami said after the sentence yesterday.
Al-Yami refused to provide contact details for her lawyer to ask about the legal proceedings, including the basis in Islamic law for the punishment and whether the charges were really dropped.
Sulaiman al-Jumeii, the lawyer for the man who appeared in the TV show, said such "physical punishment is not an indication of innocence or a drop of charges." "If the judge had dropped the charges, then why did he give her the 60 lashes?" he said.
Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza, the spokesman of the Ministry of Culture and Information, said he had no details of the sentencing and could not comment on it.
In the program, which aired in July on the Lebanese LBC satellite channel, the man, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, appears to describe an active sex life and shows sex toys that were blurred by the station. The same court sentenced Abdul-Jawad this month to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes.
Rozanna al-Yami, 22, is believed to be the first female Saudi journalist to be given such a punishment, but there were conflicting accounts about how the court issued its verdict.
Al-Yami, who worked as a coordinator for the program but denied working on the sex-show episode, said it was her understanding that the judge in the western city of Jiddah dropped the charges against her. They included involvement in the preparation of the show and advertising the segment on the Internet.
Deterrent
But she said he still handed down the lashing sentence "as a deterrence." "I am too frustrated and upset to appeal the sentence," al-Yami said after the sentence yesterday.
Al-Yami refused to provide contact details for her lawyer to ask about the legal proceedings, including the basis in Islamic law for the punishment and whether the charges were really dropped.
Sulaiman al-Jumeii, the lawyer for the man who appeared in the TV show, said such "physical punishment is not an indication of innocence or a drop of charges." "If the judge had dropped the charges, then why did he give her the 60 lashes?" he said.
Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza, the spokesman of the Ministry of Culture and Information, said he had no details of the sentencing and could not comment on it.
In the program, which aired in July on the Lebanese LBC satellite channel, the man, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, appears to describe an active sex life and shows sex toys that were blurred by the station. The same court sentenced Abdul-Jawad this month to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes.
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