Saudis close Lebanese TV station’s local operations because of alleged sex confession

Saudis close TV station’s bureaus after sex talk

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Authorities in Saudi Arabia have shut down all local operations of a Lebanese TV station that broadcast an interview with a Saudi man who spoke frankly about sex, a government official said Tuesday.

Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza, the spokesman of the Ministry of Culture and Information, told The Associated Press that a second office of the Lebanese-based LBC satellite station, in Riyadh, was closed Monday because of the July 15 program. LBC’s other Saudi bureau, in the western city of Jiddah, was shut on Saturday.

“This is a clear measure against any media outlet that harms the kingdom’s reputation,” al-Hazza said.

Officials at LBC, which has maintained a no-comment policy on the issue, were not reachable Tuesday.

The Saudi man, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, was detained July 31 for questioning. His interview shocked many in this conservative country where such frank talk is rarely heard in public.

Abdul-Jawad, a 32-year-old Saudi Airlines employee, has begged for forgiveness from Saudi society for appearing on LBC’s “Bold Red Line” program.

The television segment begins with Abdul-Jawad apparently talking about the first time he had sex — at age 14 with a neighbor. Then the divorced father of four sons leads viewers into his bedroom where he says: “Everything happens in this room.”

Saudi Arabia, which is the birthplace of Islam, enforces strict segregation of the sexes. An unrelated couple, for example, can be detained for being alone in the same car or having a cup of coffee in public. Saudis observe such segregation even at home, where they have separate living rooms for male and female guests.

Sulaiman al-Jumeii, Abdul-Jawad’s lawyer, has insisted the interview was manipulated, his client was not aware in many instances that he was being recorded and the sex toys were provided by the LBC staff.

More than 200 people have filed legal complaints against Mazen Abdul-Jawad, dubbed a “sex braggart” by the media, and many Saudis say he should be severely punished.

The closure of LBC’s Saudi bureaus was indefinite.

In a column in Okaz newspaper, al-Hazza said the kingdom will deal firmly with anything that harms religion, the nation and the citizen.

“Those who do not know Saudi Arabia should be aware that its policies are based on an uncompromising attitude over issues related to religion, values, morals and the nation,” he wrote.

An editorial in the Saudi Gazette on Tuesday said the “crux of the issue rests on the bad judgment of both Mazen Abdul-Jawad, the so-called Casanova, and the producers of ‘Bold Red Line.’”

“All involved should have been able to predict the uproar such a program would bring in Saudi Arabia,” said the editorial.

It said that because “Bold Red Line” was produced and aired by an Arab-owned TV station and focused on the exploits of a Saudi man, it “hit home far more powerfully than anything like” Western-produced programs do.

Saudi columnist Turki al-Dakheel disagrees with the measures taken against LBC although he was “disgusted by what I saw and heard.”

“The closing of the channel’s office, however, is not something that will solve the problem,” he wrote in Al-Watan. The column was reproduced in English by Arab News on Tuesday.

“The anger shown by many citizens was deterrent enough to TV channels not to make similar mistakes,” he added. “People have clearly expressed their attitude toward the program. Why then do we close the office of a TV channel?”