Oct 27, 2009, 12:26 GMT
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has waived a sentence given to a female journalist.
Rozana al-Yami, 22, was sentenced to 60 lashes by a court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for having worked part-time in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi-owned Lebanese network LBC on a sexual confessions programme but the monarch has now intervened.
According to Information Ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman al-Hazaa, Abdullah has "asked the ministry of justice to drop the lashing and ordered the transfer of the cases to the ministry of information."
The king's order also affects that of another female journalist, believed to be named Iman Rajab, who also worked on 'Bold Red Line'.
According to Yami, the judge in her case said that LBC had lacked the appropriate licence to operate in the kingdom and claimed all charges that she had been directly involved with the episode of the programme, which was aired in July, had been dropped.
While Yami will not see her lashing carried out, Saudi airline sales clerk Mazen Abdul Jawad, is "disappointed" that he will still be punished for his part in the programme.
Mazen was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes earlier this month after being convicted of offensive behaviour for his appearance on the show, in which he talked about picking up girls and having sex with them.
Three friends who appeared on the show with him were given two-year prison terms and 300 lashes each, while a cameraman who helped film the episode was sentenced to two months in jail.
However, the Information Ministry have stressed their cases will not be addressed by the committee.
Mazen's lawyer said: "You cannot separate the cases. This is one TV programme."
He also complained that the producers of the programme and the owner of the network - billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal - were not punished.
The prince has previously pushed against strict Saudi rulings relating to cinema and music, but has reportedly now agreed to stop broadcasting 'Bold Red Line' outside of Lebanon.
Your Talkback on this Story