Saudi female journalist gets 60 lashes for TV show

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 programme and advertising the segment on the Internet.

In the programme,aired on a Lebanese satellite channel,Mazen Abdul-Jawad,scandalized Saudis by describing an active sex life.

His lawyer,Sulaiman al-Jumeii,told AP today that not trying al-Yami before a court specialized in media matters at the Information Ministry is a violation of Saudi law.

Abdul-Jawad received five years in jail and 1,000 lashes.