GAY SAUDI MAN GETS 5 YEARS IN JAIL

A Saudi man convicted of engaging in homosexual activities has been sentenced to five years in jail as well as 500 lashes.

He was also found guilty of posting obscene images of himself on the internet and was fined SR50,000 (about R92,00).

According to the Saudi Gazette, the 27 year old man appeared in an amateur “pornographic” video clip that was distributed online.

“The District Court sentenced the accused in a homosexuality case that was referred to it by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) in Jeddah before he was tried for impersonating a security man and behaving shamefully and with conduct violating the Islamic teachings,” a source told the newspaper.

There are reports that the clip was filmed in a prison and that it shows the un-named man dressed as a woman and talking explicitly about sex.

Homosexuality and cross-dressing are illegal in Saudi Arabia with penalties including the death sentence under Islamic Sharia law.