6-month jail term for singer Shereen who ‘insulted Egypt’

An Egyptian court sentenced popular singer Shereen Abdel Wahab to six months in prison on a charge of “insulting Egypt”, the Anadolu Agency reported, citing a judicial source.

The court also ordered that Abdel Wahab pay a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($550).

The sentence may be appealed within 15 days, according to Anadolu.

Last November, a video went viral on social media showing Abdel Wahab, while in a concert in Lebanon, being asked by a member of the audience to sing her song about Egypt’s Nile, “Have You Drunk from the Nile?”

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Abdel Wahab responded to the question with a joke about the cleanliness of the Nile’s water: “You will get Bilharzia.” Bilharzia, or Schistosomiasis, used to be epidemic in Egypt as a result of the uncleanliness of the water.

The Egyptian musicians’ syndicate regarded the comment as “an insult to Egypt” and banned her from singing.