10-08-2009, 04:45 PM
October 08, 2009
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Oct 8, 2009)
A Saudi court yesterday convicted a man for publicly talking about sex after he bragged on a TV talk show about his exploits, sentencing him to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes, his lawyer said. Talking about sex publicly is a taboo in ultraconservative Saudi Arabia.
Lawyer Sulaiman al-Jumeii said he plans to appeal the court's ruling and is confident his client's sentence, which includes a ban on travel and talking to the media for five years after his release, will be revoked. Al-Jumeii maintains that his client, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, was duped by the Lebanese LBC satellite channel which aired the talk show and was unaware he was being recorded.
The lawyer said there is no specific law in the Saudi penal code "that defines punishment for talking or bragging." He said he assumes the judge based his decision on Islamic law, which forms the general basis of the justice system and stipulates that people should not talk about engaging in immoral behaviour.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Oct 8, 2009)
A Saudi court yesterday convicted a man for publicly talking about sex after he bragged on a TV talk show about his exploits, sentencing him to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes, his lawyer said. Talking about sex publicly is a taboo in ultraconservative Saudi Arabia.
Lawyer Sulaiman al-Jumeii said he plans to appeal the court's ruling and is confident his client's sentence, which includes a ban on travel and talking to the media for five years after his release, will be revoked. Al-Jumeii maintains that his client, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, was duped by the Lebanese LBC satellite channel which aired the talk show and was unaware he was being recorded.
The lawyer said there is no specific law in the Saudi penal code "that defines punishment for talking or bragging." He said he assumes the judge based his decision on Islamic law, which forms the general basis of the justice system and stipulates that people should not talk about engaging in immoral behaviour.
