Comedian Adel Imam sentenced to three months in jail for "insulting Islam"

So much for Arab spring

Adel Imam is sentenced to jail over Islam insult


Egypt's leading comic actor Adel Imam has received a three-month jail sentence for insulting Islam in films and plays, court documents have shown.

He was accused of frequently mocking authorities and politicians in his films, and of offending Islam and its symbols, including beards.

The case against him was brought by Asran Mansour, who is a lawyer with ties to Islamist groups.

Imam, who is 72 years old, has one month to appeal the decision.

He will remain out of jail until the appeal process has been completed, but has also been fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds (£105).

According to reports, Mr Mansour was offended by Imam's film Morgan Ahmed Morgan, which sees a rich businessman stand for parliament, and the play Al-Zaeem (The Leader).

His case had languished in court for months, judicial sources told the Reuters news agency.

Nabil Abdel Fattah, an analyst at the al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said the sentence was likely to have been handed down because Imam had failed to appear in court.

He added that it would probably be overturned on appeal.

Imam's movies regularly top the Egyptian box office and the types of roles he plays have varied enormously across his career.

Some of his movies have dealt with the rise of Islamic militancy and incompetent government officials.

The actor was awarded a lifetime achievement prize at the 2010 Doha film festival.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16858553

 

Adel Imam shocked with jail sentence



Prominent Egyptian comedian actor Adel Imam was shocked when he discovered that a court has convicted him to a three month jail sentence and a one thousand Egyptian pounds fine after being found guilty of insulting the Islamic religion in his different plays and films.

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

He added that he had no recollection of the lawsuit against him or the trial and that his personal lawyer was not notified in order to go and represent him in court and defend him.

Adel stated 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.

A Cairo court had sentenced the actor after 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.

http://www.albawaba.com/entertainment/adel-imam-shocked-jail-sentence-411567

 

Wait, it's a non-story when one of the most popular actors/comedians in the Arab world gets sentenced to 3 months in jail because some old movies he played in supposedly "insulted Islam" briefly after the Muslim Brotherhood got into power in Egypt?

That's a non-story?

Interesting viewpoint.

 

If he was sentenced, there was a trial. Whether it was a fair trial and whether he has received adequate notice is a separate question.

He was not sentenced "for failure to appear", he was sentenced because he allegedly "offended Islam" with his acting.

He just did not defend himself (based on his statement because he never received proper notice that there even was a trial).

 

DD nailed it.