RIYADH, April 16: Anyone using camera phones to distribute pornographic material may face 1,000 lashes, a 12-year jail term and a 100,000 riyal fine under a proposed new Saudi law.

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 assaulting a 17-year-old girl. The scandal broke out after the accused circulated footage of the assault through mobile phone cameras.

The law is likely to be endorsed by the 150-member Shoura Council shortly.

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