Another Journalist Faces Lashing in Saudi Sex Scandal Fallout

A 36-year-old Saudi journalist remains in prison and faces 70 lashes for working at an unlicensed television station after two female reporters were pardoned by King Abdullah Monday for the same alleged offenses, a lawyer involved with the case said Tuesday.

Omar Felimban was charged with working for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., the Beirut-based satellite TV station known as LBC, after it had its license suspended for airing a racy show this summer, Sulaiman Al Jumeii, a Jeddah-based lawyer advocating on Felimban’s behalf, said.

According to widely-published reports, the main subject of the show, Mazen Abdul Jawad, a 32-year-old airline clerk, shocked the conservative kingdom by revealing the secrets of his sex life. During the broadcast, the divorced father of four told tales of sleeping with his neighbor at the age of 14, and picking up girls using the chatting functions of Bluetooth on his mobile phone. He also showed off some sex toys to the cameras.

Abdul Jawad denies he confessed to these acts and accuses LBC of editing the broadcast, according to his lawyer Al Jumeii.

A spokeswoman for LBC in Beirut declined to comment.

Abdul Jawad was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes earlier this month. Three friends who appeared on the show with him got two-year terms and 300 lashes each. And LBC, which is owned by the Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, had its license from the Ministry of Culture and Information suspended and had to close down its offices in Riyadh and Jeddah in August because of the show.

The television station is also facing a lawsuit filed at the Ministry of Culture and Information by Abdul Jawad for allegedly deceiving him during the tapings. “All the producers and executives involved in making the show have fled the country, and the only ones facing penalties are the participants and the journalists who were coordinators at the station,” Al Jumeii said.

The Ministry of Culture and Information is investigating Abdul Jawad’s claims, its spokesman Abdulrahman Al-Hazza said. It has also taken over the cases of the two female journalists from the courts and will examine if any laws were broken.

Representatives for the women could not be reached for comment.

The female journalists could be banned from the profession, pay a fine or go to prison, but they will not face lashings, Al Jumeii said. He said he presented the case of Felimban to the Minister of Culture and Information on Tuesday and was assured the case would be transferred from the courts to the ministry soon.



source