Tourist jailed for video in Egypt
A Lebanese tourist has been sentenced to eight years in prison by an Egyptian court after posting a video online insulting Egyptians after she was sexually assaulted in Cairo.
In Mona el-Mazbouh’s 10-minute video she described Egyptians as the ‘dirtiest people’ and Egypt ‘the country of pimps ... of beggars’ after being sexually assaulted in the country’s capital city. The Egyptian court said that the video ‘deliberately broadcast false rumours which aim to undermine society and attack religions’, according to state news source Al-Ahram. The tourist was arrested when trying to leave the country at Cairo Airport, and initially was sentenced to 11 years in prison, before the sentence was reduced to eight. She was also forced to pay a fine of around $600.
El-Mazbouh has apologised in another video, claiming that she ‘didn’t mean to offend all Egyptians’. In May, Egyptian authorities arrested Egyptian activist Amal Fathy after she posted a video attacking the state after a negative experience at a bank.