Saudi woman sentenced to 10 lashes for driving

Two days after King Abdullah gave the fairer sex right to vote, a Saudi woman has been sentenced to be lashed 10 times for defying the kingdom's ban on female drivers.

A court in Jeddah sentenced the woman, Shayma Jastaniah, yesterday after finding her guilty of driving on Jeddah streets, the first such legal punishment handed down for a violation of a long-time unannounced ban in the ultra conservative Muslim nation.

Two other women are scheduled to appear in court later this year on similar charges, Saudi-based 'Arab News' reported.

This was the first-ever crackdown on woman drivers as normally police stop them to caution them and then make them sign a pledge that would not to do so again, before letting them go.

The paper said the sentence came more of a shock as recently women in droves had begun to take to the roads in a campaign to break the taboo.

The shocking sentence comes soon after the Saudi King, in a bold move, decreed that women would be given voting rights in municipal elections to be held in 2015.

The woman driver Shayma, who holds an international driving licence, expressed her dismay and shock at the sentence.

"I am still in shock and I cannot think straight because of what I had to go through. I will appeal the sentence," she told 'Arab News'.