Riyadh- A Saudi court sentenced a female Saudi journalist to receive 60 lashes for her links to a broadcaster that aired a TV talk show in which a young Saudi man boasted about his premarital sexual conquests, the Saudi Gazette newspaper reported Sunday. The woman, who works for Lebanese TV network LBC, had been ordered to stand trial along with another female producer of the Bold Red Line talk show. No details have been released about the trial of the second woman charged.
The episode, aired at the end of July by LBC, shocked many in the country, where the state enforces a puritanical brand of Islam.
Rosanna Al-Yami, who is under a travel ban as she awaits her punishment, said that during the Saturday trial, the judge dropped all charges that she had been directly involved with the episode.
However, Al-Yami said she was sentenced to 60 lashes for having been a part-time employee for LBC's Saudi operations. The judge said that LBC had lacked the appropriate operating license.
Al-Yami's sentencing comes weeks after Mazen Abdel-Jawad, 32, was convicted of of "publicizing vice and confessing to crimes on a satellite television channel" for describing his sexual adventures on the show.
Eight days after Abdel-Jawad's arrest, authorities closed LBC's offices in western Jeddah for airing programmes "contrary to morals and ethics." The satellite channel was also accused of operating in the kingdom without a license.
