A Saudi lawyer says a female journalist has been sentenced to 60 lashes for her involvement in a television 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, scandalised Saudis by describing an active sex life.

His lawyer, Sulaiman al-Jumeii, said that not trying al-Yami before a court specialised in media matters at the Information Ministry is a violation of Saudi law. Abdul-Jawad received five years in jail and 1,000 lashes.