Three Egyptians arrested for a video shot in a mosque

View of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo on May 24, 2021. REUTERS / Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Text by: Alexandre Buccianti

2 mins

Three Egyptians have been arrested and remanded in custody after a video of a man singing and dancing to electronic music emerged on social media last week at a mosque in a working-class district of Cairo.

The video had caused a wave of discontent among Internet users crying foul and blasphemy.

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The first of the three men arrested is the one who, the microphone of the mosque in hand, accompanied by dancing a song by Ahmad Moza, one of the stars of

, this popular Egyptian rap.

The second person arrested is the one who filmed his work colleague with his mobile phone.

The two men are workers in charge of repainting a mosque in the popular suburb of Al-Marg in the northeast of Cairo.

The third man detained is the one who posted the video on social media, prosecutors said.

A video deemed blasphemous by thousands of Internet users in a country where "

" is an offense punishable by five years in prison.

Participation in a plot of a terrorist organization

But this is not the only accusation made by the prosecution.

There is also that of spreading false information on social networks, also punishable by five years in prison.

But, according to human rights lawyers, the three detainees will be prosecuted for a much more serious crime: that of participating in a plot by a terrorist organization.

The prosecution believes that the purpose of the video was to damage the reputation of the country's security authorities.

A crime that is punishable by fifteen years in prison.

This is not the first case where users of social networks have suffered the wrath of the Egyptian authorities.

Dozens of Internet users have been sentenced to prison terms or heavy fines for misdemeanors or crimes on social networks.

The most frequent accusation is that of “

” but there is also “

” which has earned several influencers, in particular of

, to find themselves behind bars.

But the heaviest sentences have been handed down to opponents of the government, whether from the Muslim Brotherhood or people accused of supporting the Brotherhood, which is considered a terrorist organization by law.

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• Egypt

• Religion

• Social networks