Riyadh: A Saudi lawyer says a female journalist has been sentenced to 60 lashes for her involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex.
Rozanna Al Yami is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment. The charges against her included involvement in the preparation of the program and advertising the segment on the Internet.
In the program, which aired in July on the Lebanese LBC satellite channel, Mazen Abdul Jawad appears to describe an active sex life and shows sex toys that were blurred by the station.
The same court sentenced AbdulJawad earlier this month to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. Client duped, says lawyer
The man’s lawyer, Sulaiman Al Jumeii, maintains his client was duped by the TV station and was unaware in many cases he was being recorded.
On Saturday, he told the AP that not trying his client or Al Yami before a court specialised in media matters at the Ministry of Culture and Information was a violation of Saudi law.
“It is a precedent to try a journalist before a summary court for an issue that concerns the nature of his job,” he said. Taboo
The case has scandalised this ultraconservative country where such public talk about sex is taboo and the sexes are strictly segregated.
The government moved swiftly in the wake of the case, shutting down LBC’s two offices in the kingdom and arresting Abdul Jawad, who works for the national airline.
Three other men who appeared on the show, “Bold Red Line,” were also convicted of discussing sex publicly and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and 300 lashes each.
Re: Saudi female journalist gets 60 lashes for TV show
I don’t get it. He was tricked into having conversations about his sex life and which were videotaped against his consent and broadcasted?
Why was he talking about such things in the first place?
Retarded Saudi society. Their stuffed up approaches to sex.
She should not have gotten this punishment. She obviously wasn’t the only one involved, so why is she being singled out? What nonsense. And shame on those of you who support such pathetic punishments.
Rozana disclosed that she has no plans to sue anybody with regard to the case as she sees the royal pardon as the best reply for them.
Image Credit: Supplied
Riyadh: A female Saudi journalist has decided to discontinue working with the Lebanese TV channel LBC for which she coordinated a chat show that ignited a controversy over a man's talk about his sexual activities.
“I also reject outright offers from some global TV channels and human rights organisations that they would take up my case outside the Kingdom,” Rozana Al Yami, 22, told Gulf News after King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Monday ordered to waive a sentence of 60 lashes handed down to her by a Jeddah court.
"I was extremely happy and could not stop crying when I heard the news of the royal pardon.
“Immediately I prostrated myself in worship to thank Allah, the Almighty,” she said while expressing her deep gratitude to King Abdullah.
Rozana told Gulf News: "I regard this humanitarian gesture as a personal victory awarded to me by the monarch. This is a great honour for me as a young Saudi media person. It is also a reply to all those who cast doubts on my patriotism and love for nation. I did nothing harmful to my country.
“I used to do my duties [as a journalist]. I was not responsible for the final product, for which the presenter and director of the programme had to be accountable,” she said.
Rozana disclosed that she received numerous calls — their numbers exceeding more than 100 on some days — over the past few days expressing solidarity with her on the issue. Readiness
These calls also included those from global TV channels and human rights organisations expressing their readiness to take up her case outside the Kingdom. “I rejected outright all such offers, with a firm conviction that all these were part of attempts and machinations to do harm and hurt my beloved country,” she said.
Rozana also disclosed that she has no plans to sue anybody with regard to the case as she sees the royal pardon as the best reply for them.
She also did not conceal her disappointment with LBC’s handling of the issue. “The channel did nothing to defend me, and never uttered a single word for my sake,” she said while announcing her decision to stop working with the channel.
According to reports, the Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Abdul Aziz Khoja, earlier briefed King Abdullah of the issue involving two female journalists. The minister told the King that the matter could be examined by the specialised permanent committee under the ministry for addressing media-related matters. This eventually resulted in the royal directive to transfer the cases to the ministry, according to the sources.
In his order to waive the sentence of lashes, King Abdullah also directed the transfer of the cases against Rozana and another journalist Eman Rajab to the Ministry of Culture and Information. Explanation
Eman, who failed to appear in court in earlier sittings, submitted an explanation that she was ill with pregnancy-related problems. She has been working as a broadcaster with the Saudi TV channel 1 since 2002.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Al Fuhaid, a Saudi columnist, noted that it is disgraceful on the part of LBC to have remained silent about its controversial programme, which triggered much outrage.
“All those responsible for telecasting the controversial ugly programme escaped and were watching in cool what were befalling on the victims of the programme,” he said while calling the act as a “shameful flight from justice”.
Eman was the presenter of several popular programmes. She also worked as a correspondent of LBC in Riyadh. Profile
Rozana Al Yami, 22, was working on part-time basis with the Lebanese TV channel LBC. She also worked for the popular Sayyidati weekly magazine as well as for Rua magazine and Al Madinah daily.
She had been charged with involvement as coordinator in the preparation of the controversial LBC programme Bold Red Line in which Saudi man Mazen Abdul Jawad boasted about sexual exploits in July.
Abdul Jawad was convicted of offensive behaviour and sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes earlier this month by a Jeddah court.
itni lashes to Hazrat Umer nai bhi apnay betay ko nahi mari theen...1000 will he survive after that. its extreme case. i don't see its islamic.
Do u see playing with sex toys on live tv to be islamic?or talking about intimate stuff on live tv to be islamic???think before you talk.what is your qualification to hold what is islamic and what is not??
Re: Saudi female journalist gets 60 lashes for TV show
It sounds harsh ... but there must something wrong with the society that there are these people around who want to talk about and listen to people in their kinky activities, despite the punishment that will come with it. Nutjobs ... of course the show must have been aired not in Saudi and someone from the Saudi authorities must have been watching that show!!!
