JEDDAH, 16 April 2005 — Saudi Arabia will deal strongly with people misusing camera mobiles as a draft bylaw proposed 12-year jail sentence, SR100,000 fine and 1,000 lashes for those circulating pornographic photos of women through the phone.
In January this year, the high court in Riyadh sentenced two young Saudis to prison terms and flogging for orchestrating and filming a Nigerian driver sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl. The scandal, which shocked Saudi society, broke out after the accused circulated footage of the assault through camphones.
The law is likely to be endorsed by the 150-member Shoura Council shortly. “The Shoura has already debated its articles in previous sessions and a special panel is currently looking at matters related to taking photos by the phone and circulating them among the public,” Al-Eqtisadiah business daily said quoting a source.
The source said the new law would include a number of regulations to prevent misuse of camera mobile phones in the country. As per the regulations already discussed by the Shoura, a person convicted of distributing pornographic photos will be jailed for three months and fined SR20,000 and his phone will be confiscated.
“If a person repeats the offense, the punishment will be doubled as the jail sentence will be increased to six months and fine to SR40,000,” the source said, adding that he will also be given 100 lashes publicly.
If a person commits the same offense for the third time, the punishments would be further doubled, with 12-month jail, SR80,000 fine and 200 lashes. Moreover, his photograph will also be publicized in the press.
“We hope citizens and expatriate residents would welcome these tough regulations in order to prevent misuse of camera mobiles,” the source said.
The Kingdom overturned a ban on the import and sale of mobile camera phones last December. Even before the ban was lifted, the phones had been used in many cases to invade privacy, particularly of women, prompting fights at markets, wedding halls, schools and other public places as well as triggering family disputes.
The government is currently studying new laws to regulate the use of third generation mobile phones in the country after reports that some people were misusing the facility.
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), the Kingdom’s second mobile phone service provider, intends to launch 3G mobile phone service shortly for the first time in the Kingdom.
Mobily, which won the GSM and 3G licenses last year by paying SR12.96 billion ($3.457 billion), has already established most of its infrastructure facilities in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province.
