Egypt jails belly dancers for videos

Image copyright Mazzika

A court in Egypt has sentenced two belly dancers to six months each in jail for inciting debauchery.

Suha Mohammed Ali and Dalia Kamal Youssef – known as the Egyptian Shakira and Bardis – were arrested over their scantily-clad performances in videos.

Lawyers filed complaints, saying they were outrages to public morality and harmed the image of Egyptian women.

In March, a well-known dancer – Safinaz – was sentenced to six months in jail for insulting the national flag.

She appeared in a video wearing a dress in its colours.

Another dancer, Salma el-Fouly, received a six-month sentence in July for a video in which she wore skimpy clothes while making fun of male gropers.

The male cameraman was also jailed for six months, while a second man who produced and appeared in the video was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison.