Egypt: Belly dancer Sama Al Masri's jail term commuted by a year
Was convicted of inciting debauchery via online images, videos, gets two-year jail term
Cairo: An Egyptian appeals court has sentenced controversial actress and belly dancer Sama Al Masri to two years in prison on charges of inciting debauchery, commuting an earlier verdict of a three-year jail term, legal sources said.
In June, a lower court handed down the three-year imprisonment sentence to Al Masri and ordered her to pay a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh69,767) after convicting her of inciting debauchery and violating society’s values by posting online footage deemed immoral.
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The Economic Appeals Court kept the value of the fine unchanged, the sources added.
The case is related to images and videos posted by Al Masri on her social networking accounts. Such cases are heard by the Economic Court in Egypt.
Police had arrested the 42-year-old entertainer in Cairo in April.
Al Masri has recently been at the heart of legal woes. Last month, a Cairo misdemeanor court sentenced Sama to two years in prison and ordered her to pay a fine of LE100,000 on charges of slandering celebrated TV host Reham Saeed.
In 2014, another court had released Al Masri after ordering her to pay a fine in a case related to operating an unlicensed TV station.
The following year, an administrative court disqualified her bid to run for parliament.