Riyadh - A Saudi court on Wednesday sentenced a man to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes for boasting about his premarital sexual conquests on a TV talk show.

Mazen Abdel-Jawad, 32, was convicted of of "publicizing vice and confessing to crimes on a satellite television channel" for describing his sexual adventures in a July episode of the LBC television network's Bold Red Line talk show.

The judge further banned him from traveling for three years after his release from prison, and recommended psychological treatment.

The court also sentenced three other men, who appeared on the episode but did not describe their sex lives as extensively, to two years in jail and 300 lashes. A fifth man was sentenced to three years in prison and 70 lashes, and another was released after serving two months in pre-trial detention.

The judge also issued a travel ban against two women who prepared the episode for LBC, and ordered their arrest so they could stand trial.

Abdel-Jawad was arrested in August by Saudi Arabia's religious police and charged with "publicizing vice," after he had detailed explicit descriptions of his relationships and how he had picked up women.

The episode, aired at the end of July, shocked many in the country, where the state enforces a puritanical brand of Islam.

Eight days after Abdel-Jawad's arrest, authorities closed LBC's offices in western Jeddah for airing programmes "contrary to morals and ethics." The satellite channel was also accused of operating in the kingdom without a license. (dpa)