The more ridiculous the culture, the more preposterous the criminal charges.
Muslim regimes are especially prone to this, but are by no means the only such states.
In Egypt, the singer and TV personality Sherine Abdel-Wahab, star and a former judge on the Arabic version of The Voice TV show - was arrested, after a 2017 video, recorded at a concert, showed her being asked to sing the song Mashrebtesh Men Nilha ('Have You Drunk From The Nile') at a concert. She laughingly responded, by obviously joking 'drinking from the Nile will get me bilharzia' and suggesting that drinking Evian water was better.
Reprisals started from the Egyptian Musicians Union, which decided to suspend her right to perform in Egypt over her apparent "unjustified mockery of our dear Egypt," until she apologised. But as is the way of things in the lands of the absurd, things escalated as nationalist lawyers got involved and she was charged and convicted by a Cairo court of 'spreading false news'.
Egyptian news outlet Ahram said she was ordered to pay 5,000 Egyptian pounds (£204) as bail, in addition to a fine of £10,000 pounds and six months in prison, but later appeals apparently stopped her going to prison with the sentence suspended on appeal.
She is not the first, nor will she be the last female singer to be prosecuted in Egypt, for offending the patriarchal society - Singer Laila Amer was arrested charged with "inciting debauchery" after her music video, Bos Omak (Look At Your Mother) - an apparent pun on an Arabic profanity - upset a lawyer.
Singer Shaimaa Ahmed was sentenced to two years in prison - reduced to one year on appeal on Monday - for inciting debauchery and publishing an indecent film (She was in underwear while suggestively eating a banana .... Kylie and the rest wouldn't last a minute over there).
Sherine dropped herself into hot water again in March 2019, when at a concert in Bahrain, she was seen stating that "Here I can say whatever I like. In Egypt, anyone who talks is jailed." ... the same nutcase lawyer who regularly targets female celebrities, has claimed that once again the singer had insulted Egypt. The same Egyptian Musicians Union, has again decided to suspend her right to perform in Egypt as she has 'harmed Egypt's national security'.
The head of the musicians union, Hany Shaker, is a veteran singer and one-time heart-throb, but now a regime sycophant said that "Every time it is more serious than the previous time. This time, she is talking about national security ... as if Egypt has become a large prison and everyone who opens his mouth is immediately taken to prison." He claimed that he had repeatedly warned Sherine to stick to singing when on stage. "Egypt is the land of security, safety and freedom and everything that's beautiful."
Strangely, its nearly always private lawyers who file these complaints .... which probably tells you how useless the lawyers are in these countries, at actually defending anyone in a repressive regimes.
Needless to say that only a fool or someone wanting to commit slow suicide would actually drink Nile water, which is actually fully of parasites. And the fact that the women keep getting charged in Egypt merely confirms the view that Egypt is very much a land where freedom of speech is denied.
Addition:
Literally the day after I published this story the BBC report that Asayel Slay a Saudi female rapper released a music video for her song 'Mecca Girl' that praises women from the holy city as "powerful and beautiful". In the YouTube video she sings "Our respect to other girls but the Mecca girl is sugar candy".... while men and women dance in a café in the background. The mixed sex dancing may be what prompted the Saudi Governor to tweeted that it "insults the customs of Mecca" and using hashtag "They're not the girls of Mecca". .... At a music festival in December, 120 Saudi men and women were arrested for wearing "inappropriate clothes."
Many Saudi tweeters condemned him, and his call for the arrest of all concerned with the video (her account was closed down) as the video was clean .... some also pointed out the double standards and hypocrisy that closed this girls video down, but allowed Moroccan singer Saad Lmjarred who was permitted to perform in Riyadh despite him facing three charges of rape.
 |
| Sherine Spoke Too Freely |
Muslim regimes are especially prone to this, but are by no means the only such states.
In Egypt, the singer and TV personality Sherine Abdel-Wahab, star and a former judge on the Arabic version of The Voice TV show - was arrested, after a 2017 video, recorded at a concert, showed her being asked to sing the song Mashrebtesh Men Nilha ('Have You Drunk From The Nile') at a concert. She laughingly responded, by obviously joking 'drinking from the Nile will get me bilharzia' and suggesting that drinking Evian water was better.
Reprisals started from the Egyptian Musicians Union, which decided to suspend her right to perform in Egypt over her apparent "unjustified mockery of our dear Egypt," until she apologised. But as is the way of things in the lands of the absurd, things escalated as nationalist lawyers got involved and she was charged and convicted by a Cairo court of 'spreading false news'.
Egyptian news outlet Ahram said she was ordered to pay 5,000 Egyptian pounds (£204) as bail, in addition to a fine of £10,000 pounds and six months in prison, but later appeals apparently stopped her going to prison with the sentence suspended on appeal.
She is not the first, nor will she be the last female singer to be prosecuted in Egypt, for offending the patriarchal society - Singer Laila Amer was arrested charged with "inciting debauchery" after her music video, Bos Omak (Look At Your Mother) - an apparent pun on an Arabic profanity - upset a lawyer.
 |
| Shaimaa Ahmed - Imprisoned For One Year For This Scene |
Singer Shaimaa Ahmed was sentenced to two years in prison - reduced to one year on appeal on Monday - for inciting debauchery and publishing an indecent film (She was in underwear while suggestively eating a banana .... Kylie and the rest wouldn't last a minute over there).
Sherine dropped herself into hot water again in March 2019, when at a concert in Bahrain, she was seen stating that "Here I can say whatever I like. In Egypt, anyone who talks is jailed." ... the same nutcase lawyer who regularly targets female celebrities, has claimed that once again the singer had insulted Egypt. The same Egyptian Musicians Union, has again decided to suspend her right to perform in Egypt as she has 'harmed Egypt's national security'.
The head of the musicians union, Hany Shaker, is a veteran singer and one-time heart-throb, but now a regime sycophant said that "Every time it is more serious than the previous time. This time, she is talking about national security ... as if Egypt has become a large prison and everyone who opens his mouth is immediately taken to prison." He claimed that he had repeatedly warned Sherine to stick to singing when on stage. "Egypt is the land of security, safety and freedom and everything that's beautiful."
Strangely, its nearly always private lawyers who file these complaints .... which probably tells you how useless the lawyers are in these countries, at actually defending anyone in a repressive regimes.
Needless to say that only a fool or someone wanting to commit slow suicide would actually drink Nile water, which is actually fully of parasites. And the fact that the women keep getting charged in Egypt merely confirms the view that Egypt is very much a land where freedom of speech is denied.
Addition:
Literally the day after I published this story the BBC report that Asayel Slay a Saudi female rapper released a music video for her song 'Mecca Girl' that praises women from the holy city as "powerful and beautiful". In the YouTube video she sings "Our respect to other girls but the Mecca girl is sugar candy".... while men and women dance in a café in the background. The mixed sex dancing may be what prompted the Saudi Governor to tweeted that it "insults the customs of Mecca" and using hashtag "They're not the girls of Mecca". .... At a music festival in December, 120 Saudi men and women were arrested for wearing "inappropriate clothes."
Many Saudi tweeters condemned him, and his call for the arrest of all concerned with the video (her account was closed down) as the video was clean .... some also pointed out the double standards and hypocrisy that closed this girls video down, but allowed Moroccan singer Saad Lmjarred who was permitted to perform in Riyadh despite him facing three charges of rape.
The Egyptian courts don't know whether they are coming or going on these videos. Some arrests of what came to be known as the 'TikTok Girls' have now been overturned .... the 7th century morals, and the 21st centuries technology, don't fit easily with each other.
ReplyDelete