By Osagie Alonge
A popular Egyptian comedian Adel Imam has been sentenced to three months in jail for offending Islam, a judge said.
Imam was found guilty of ‘defaming Islam’ in a 2007 movie ‘Morgan Ahmed Morgan’ in which he plays a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a university diploma. The movie included a scene with bearded Muslim men wearing traditional Islamic robes. Other reports said the court objected to his use of Islamic symbols in the film and others he has appeared in.
Imam, also a veteran actor was convicted in absentia. The judge said Imam can however appeal.
Just last month, an Egyptian telecommunications mogul and founder of the liberal Free Egyptians political party Naguib Sawiris faced similar charges after he posted pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing Islamic clothing on Twitter.
Imam, 71, has acted in dozens of films and 10 plays in a career that spans nearly 50 years.
Egyptian Comedian Adel Imam Sentenced To Jail For Insulting Islam
10 comments
Defamatary statement against Islam by anybody would not be allowed and accepted.
beeni o!
@Yusuf. Why won’t u allow ur God to fight for himself!…..easily indoctrinated ninnies!
Seriously, tell me you are not as silly as you sound. so if you saw someone (that you can easily handle) defacing the bible inside your church or cursing Jesus out (i am assuming u r a christian), u would simply pass him by and beseech God to come down and fight him or to strike with Thunder abi? #comedian
PS: What he did is libelous in nature and he is being punished for it, don’t look at it any differently than a journalist who published some defamatory untruths about someone and got sued and sentenced.
Your comparison is false… you say “cursing Jesus” and “defacing the Bible”, but was Adem Iman cursing the Prophet or defacing a Quran? No. He was not. His offense was much less than these false comparisons.
Of course I am not an Egyptian so it is not my business what you do in your country, but since this is open to public comment, I will say, to my eyes, Iman’s offense was light and the sentence was harsh. And I know many (though not all of course) Egyptians agree with me, or they would not have paid so much $$$ to see Iman’s films. But, the important argument is not my argument with you, but your argument with your fellow Egyptians.
If the law of the land forbids the use of religious objects in a defamatory way, then we all must be judged by that same law. My only question is will he have faced the same fate if he insulted traditional belief or any other faith. To single out islam for protection against defamation will be biase. Respect for people’s faith should be a universal rule otherwise this trial will be another hypocritical move.
Ʊ Muslims R jst Full °ƒ Violence….day R oda ways °ƒ handling dis issues..lyk councelling d person & more..
because he is a dunce abi? he is not matured enough to know what’s right. just because you handle your religion with levity doesn’t mean others should do such.
Every law forbids bad thing. But, in the case of entertainment where making believes is the main thing, should not be taking so personal. What movie board does is to bound the circulation and further production of sure movies. Jailing the artists is very unfair, undemocratic, unwise, uncivilised, unjust and threat to human right!
1-I live in egypt where adel emam lives and adel emam was never sent to jail.
2-Adel emam is a muslim so how will he insult islam?
The person who made this article just wants to show people who don’t live in egypt that adel emam is a bad artist but in real he isn’t the person who made this article is a false article..This article should be removed..So please people who read this article don’t believe it second time i will say the person just wants to show people who don’t live in egypt that Adel emam one of the most famous comedian artists in egypt that he’s bad.