Egypt: ‘Kneel to my dog’ doctor gets 2 years in jail

Cairo: A prominent Egyptian doctor, who appeared in a viral video ordering a nurse at a private hospital to kneel to his dog has been handed down two years in prison.

Last month, the video circulated online and in the media, showed the doctor, assisted by two others, rebuking the male nurse for allegedly insulting his dog and ordering him to jump the rope in punishment. The prime defendant, identified as Dr Amr Khairi, also ordered the nurse to kneel down to the dog. The nurse refused and said he would only salute the animal. The footage triggered an outcry in Egypt.

A court in Cairo started hearing the case last month, with the defendants accused of bullying, show of force, intimidating and mocking the nurse.

The court on Saturday sentenced the doctor, the head of orthopedics department at a state university, to two years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh23,418). The two other offenders – a doctor and an administrative employee- were given the same verdict that can be appealed.

The nurse revealed in media interviews that the video had been filmed six months earlier and its release had harmed him and his family in their hometown.