Wednesday, June 9, 2010

MTV Update

It's good news for the young Saudis whose fate was in question after appearing on an MTV program called Real Life a few weeks ago. It appears as though there will be and have been no lawsuits filed against them. Arab News published the following story by reporter MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN just hours ago:

"Judge rejects reports of lawsuit against MTV"

JEDDAH: Judge Muhammad Amin Mirdad of the Summary Court in Jeddah told Arab News on Tuesday that rumors that appeared in the local press recently regarding a short documentary that aired on the US version of MTV are false.

"The Jeddah Summary Court has not so far received any lawsuit (pertaining to the controversy)," he said, adding that he was also unaware of any cases filed with prosecutors that would lead to court proceedings.

Local media reported that complaints have been submitted to prosecutors against MTV Networks and the Saudi youths that appeared on the short documentary.

On Sunday, the Jeddah Municipal Council discussed the possibility of filing a complaint against MTV for airing footage of a meeting it claims was filmed without members' knowledge or consent. The meeting took place on the premises of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which claims the producers of the documentary did not obtain permission to film on the premises.

Some of the youths that appeared in the documentary were also targeted as possible defendants for discussing issues such as meeting at malls for dates.

Sheikh Muhammad was the judge who presided over the case of Muhamamd Abdul Jawad, aka the "Sex Braggart," who was sentenced to jail and lashes for appearing on an LBC program boasting about extra-marital sexual encounters in Jeddah.


SOURCE: By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jun 8, 2010 22:56 Updated: Jun 8, 2010 23:00
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article62931.ece

5 comments:

  1. Well, thank goodness nothing has been filed against these youths! Let's hope it stays that way!

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  2. Sure glad they won't get in trouble for speaking their truths.

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  3. Thanks for sharing, this has been an interesting story to follow.

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  4. Wow...I get to be the first message in a bottle for this!

    What to say? what to say? So much pressure when you're the first commenter.

    Ok, my curiousity is about the headline: "Judge rejects reports of lawsuit," which I at first thought meant that the judge rejected the lawsuit but really means that he just said there have been no lawsuits filed. It's a very odd headline, but we've come to expect that from The Arab News.

    Having watched the MTV documentary, I can't imagine how the members of the Jeddah Municipal Council could not have known that they were being filmed. It's not like the MTV crew had secret lapel-cams or they bugged the chandeliers.

    Sounds to me like they caught some flak from various quarters and decided to try to cover themselves with threat of a strawman lawsuit (one that they never intended to pursue) to distance themselves from the charge that they may have cooperated with the show's producers.

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  5. Well I recently viewed the doc. So sad to know a country that is so powerful as KSA is making small things like wearing black or coloured abaya, music groups ;;; into something forbidden and to be the breakdown of their socirty give me break!

    But I am glad (probably due to connections and media) these brave youths are not going to be punished for their bravery on this taboo issues of KSA.

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