Egypt comedian found guilty of insulting Islam

An Egyptian court has sentenced prominent Egyptian comedian actor Adel Imam to jail and fined him $170 for insulting the Muslim religion in the different films and plays he took part in.

A Cairo court had sentenced the actor after a lawsuit was filed against him accusing him of insulting the Islamic religion. It was stated that the actor had ridiculed the teachings and dress codes of Islam in his different projects in order to gain a few laughs.

Safwat Hussein, the actor’s defense lawyer, demanded that Adel be innocent of all allegations against him and that he must be paid a compensation of $1 million Egyptian pounds.

During the first hearing for the actor, which he was absent for, Adel’s lawyer, said that the actor did not insult anyone or the Islamic religion and he has no intention of apologizing to anyone for something he did not do.

Adel’s lawyer stressed that all of the films Imam played in had passed through the Egyptian Censorship Committee and if any of them presented any form of insults, they would have been immediately rejected.

On February 5, a lower court convicted Adel Imam to a three-month jail sentence and a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds fine after he was found guilty of insulting the Islamic religion in some of his most popular films.

Adel stressed that he never received a court summons from the court that released the verdict against him.

Adel added that in regards to the lawsuit against him, every person should have the freedom of expression and no one should place restrictions on what is presented in the entertainment world.

Source:http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/24/210012.html