New Saudi law to jail, lash cellphone porn users

RIYADH - Anyone using camera phones to distribute pornography may face up to 1000 lashes, a 12-year jail term and a 100,000 riyal ($26,670 ($37,000) fine under a proposed Saudi law.

The proposed law comes after a Saudi court in January sentenced three men to jail and up to 1,200 lashes each for orchestrating and filming the rape of a teenage girl using telephones equipped with cameras and distributing the footage via the telephones.

The conservative Muslim kingdom's consultative 150-member Shura council was expected to endorse the new law soon, local newspapers said.

The state telecommunications regulator earlier this year warned against using third generation (3G) mobile phones for "immoral" purposes.

3G mobile phones can access the internet, which is strictly controlled in Saudi Arabia, and receive high-quality video clips from adult sites.

A ban was recently overturned on the import and sale of mobile camera phones. Religious leaders said they are used to invade privacy, particularly of women.

The use of camera phones has triggered scuffles at weddings and girls schools after handsets were used to film and distribute pictures of unveiled women, newspapers have reported. Under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic rules, women must cover their heads in public.

Saudi Arabia's rapidly growing telecoms sector is gradually being opened up to competition, ending the monopoly of state-owned Saudi Telecommunications Co.

- REUTERS