Mixed response to Saudi sex braggart's punishment

Riyadh: There has been mixed response from the Saudi public and legal circles to the conviction of sex braggart Mazen Abdul Jawad by a court in Jeddah on Wednesday.

The Summary Court sentenced the 32-year-old Mazen to a five-year jail term and 1,000 lashes while three of his accomplices were awarded two years' imprisonment and 300 lashes each.

Mazen boasted about his sexual exploits on the LBC weekly programme Bold Red Line in July.

Speaking to Gulf News, some Saudis were outspoken about their views that the punishment was too severe for the crimes committed by Mazen and aides.

On the contrary, many others have the feeling that the punishment was appropriate and also exemplary with a deterrent effect on Saudi Arabia's younger generation.

Describing the conviction as hasty and wrong, Abdul Jawad's lawyer, Sulaiman Jumaie, alleged that his client has been presented to the people as a scapegoat to cover up the real culprit, LBC.

In a statement, he announced plans to appeal the verdict. "The conviction was wrong because the men should have been tried in a court that specialised in media issues, not criminal cases," he said.

The lawyer also pointed out that court hurried to deny his client's right to take advantage of the letter sent to the Minister of Culture and Information with the argument that this is a matter for the Ministry of Culture and Information to review.

Sulaiman Jumaie also drew attention to the absence of LBC channel in the court that heard the case.

Abdul Jawad filed a case in the same court against LBC for allegedly editing a long video shoot into a minutes-long segment portraying Abdul Jawad in poor light.