 Saudi women are not allowed to mingle with unrelated men |
The case of the unidentified woman, 19, drew international criticism after an appeal increased her 90-lash sentence to 200 lashes and six months' jail.
The justice ministry statement rejected "foreign interference" in the case.
It insisted the ruling was legal and that the woman had "confessed to doing what God has forbidden".
The statement carried by the official press agency late on Saturday said the sentence would be carried out in accordance with Saudi law.
The woman was initially to be punished for violating strict gender segregation laws in Saudi Arabia, for riding in the car of a man who was not related to her when they were both attacked.
"The Saudi justice minister expressed his regret about the media reports over the role of the woman in this case which put out false information and wrongly defend her," the statement said.
"The charged girl is a married woman who confessed to having an affair with the man she was caught with."
Barbaric
Adultery is a punishable offence in Saudi Arabia's strict system of Islamic law, and correspondents say judges are given wide powers to impose custodial sentences or corporal punishment.
Human rights activist Peter Tatchell said it was "incredible hypocrisy" for ministers to condemn the Burmese and Zimbabwean regimes while saying nothing about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.
He said: "It just shows oil and arms sales seem to have bought the government's silence. "
On Monday, Foreign Office minister Kim Howells called for Britain and Saudi Arabia to work more closely together, despite their differences.
He said the two states could unite around their "shared values".
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