Egyptian editor sentenced to year in jail after publishing ‘indecent’ photo

An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced a newspaper editor to one year in jail, after he published a front-page photograph of an Egyptian television and film actress that was deemed indecent, Reuters reported.

“The verdict against editor Hatem Mamdouh Mahran was the latest in a string of rulings that have handed jail terms to at least 12 journalists since September on charges ranging from defaming President Hosni Mubarak to misquoting the minister of justice,” the article says. “The sources said Mahran’s al-Naba weekly newspaper, known for testing conservative Egyptian sensibilities, had published a picture in January of actress Hala Sidky that prosecutors said ‘reveals a sensitive part’ of her body. They did not say which part of her body.”

Mahran was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,600) and granted bail of 5,000 pounds. He said he would appeal.

Mahran argued that the photo of the Christian actress was a shot from a recent film, and that al-Naba had neither taken the picture nor altered it.

According to the article “It was the second time a member of Mahran’s family has been ordered jailed for media offences. His father Mamdouh was sentenced to three years in jail in 2001 after he enraged Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority by publishing a sexually explicit report and photographs about a Coptic monk’s alleged sexual affairs. Mamdouh Mahran died in while serving his term.”

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