The Jeddah Summary Court convened on Saturday to hear a Saudi woman journalist defend accusations that she was involved in the preparation of the controversial LBC “Bold Red Line” program last July in which a man boasted about his sex exploits.

The judge in the case gave the defendant until Sunday next week to present evidence that she had no involvement in the recording of the episode.

The Prosecution and Investigation Commission last week handed the journalist a list of charges against her that included involvement in the preparation of the program and its subject, coordination with the braggart Mazen Abdul Jawad on a satellite channel and advertising the episode on the Internet to attract a large number of viewers.

The court had asked the police to forcibly bring the two Saudi women journalists accused of being involved in the incident after they refused to show up to 10 sessions the court had held in the case against Abdul Jawad and three other accomplices. The other journalist who worked in the Riyadh office of LBC refused to appear before the court.

The court has already sentenced the sex braggart to five years imprisonment and 1,000 lashes.

He was also prevented from travelling abroad while in jail, and the car and mobile phone that he used to pick up girls were confiscated.

Arab News