1000 Lashings, the Saudi Sentence for Talking Frank about Sex
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Six aldermen have been subpoenaed.
A Saudi court sentenced a man to 1000 lashings and five years imprisonment on Wednesday for publicly talking about sex on TV.
Lawyer Sulaiman al-Jumeii defended Mazen Abdul-Jawad who was unaware he was being recorded by Lebanese LBC satellite channel during the talk show.
Abdul-Jawad was supposedly shown bragging about losing his virginity at 14 and describing his sexual escapades with blurred sex toys. The sex discussion continued later when three male friends joined the broadcast chatting about what turns them on.
The program was aired July 15 on LBC and viewed by Saudi Arabia. Some 200 flabbergasted viewers filed legal complaints to the TV station.
The government forced two of LBC’s offices to close and arrested Abdul-Jawad. The other three men were convicted but given lighter sentences of two years in jail and 300 lashes each.
Abdul-Jawad’s lawyer is confident of keeping the case open, maintaining that the case was tried before the wrong court and his client was speaking of other people’s sexual experiences and the toys were provided by the TV station.
Get more: Drudge Report
Posted Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009 - 5:24 PM EST
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