“He received the 200 lashes out of 1,000,” according to a police statement.
Lashings are typically metered out in portions in order to avoid permanent damage or death.
The 27-year-old Saudi was arrested after appearing in a video posted on YouTube. The video depicts the man with long hair wearing a police uniform, behaving in a feminine manner. At one point he waves around what appears to be a pistol.
At one point the man started flirting with his friend who was filming him and asked him for his license, and then started to dance and partly undress himself and rub his chest to the beats of nightclub music after demanding “physical comfort” from his friend behind the camera.
The video quickly moved around through Bluetooth, SMS and e-mail. The authorities caught the man and initially charged him with homosexuality; a violation of general security; and impersonating a policeman.
It is not known what the man was eventually found guilty of, but he was sentenced to one year in prison, 1,000 lashes, a SR5,000 fine and an order to memorize a chapter from the Holy Qur’an.
Police acknowledged the arrest a month later in order to address rumors surrounding the video.
