A Sudanese man has been sentenced to 30 lashes for smoking on a domestic Saudi Arabian Airlines flight.
The unnamed smoker refused repeated requests from cabin crew to put out his cigarette on a flight to the Red Sea port of Jeddah from Qurayyat in northern Saudi Arabia.
He was arrested when the aircraft landed in Jeddah and promptly handed over to police.
The man apologized in court - and to prove his penitence presented evidence that he was attending a clinic to help him kick his heavy smoking habit.
But the judge was keen to make an example and gave a sentence designed to serve as a deterrent.
Smoking is banned in many public places in the desert Kingdom.
Smoking was outlawed on domestic flights of Saudi’s national carrier SAA in 1987 and on overseas flights in 1999.
Last April a man caught smoking on a domestic Saudi flight was sentenced to 50 lashes.
His cigarette triggered a smoke alarm that led to panic among passengers.
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Here's a law I can support. Make it 100 lashes for good measure
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