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Egyptian blogger jailed for suggesting women are adulterous

March 12, 2016

An Egyptian court has sentenced a man to three years of hard labor for comments on television suggesting some women in the country were adulterous. He has received death threats for the comments.

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Gazastreifen Frauen in Gaza Stadt
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Hana

Taymour el-Sobky, whose Facebook page "The Diary of a Crushed Husband" has 1.1 million followers, was convicted on Saturday of spreading "false news that disturbs the public peace."

Sobky was arrested last month on charges of slandering Egyptian women and damaging their honor for comments made on television.

"Thirty percent of Egyptian women are ready for immorality; they just can't find someone to encourage them," Sobky said.

"These days, it is very normal for women to cheat on their husbands and seek it out ... Many women are involved in extramarital affairs while their husbands are abroad," he said.

Sobky also claimed that arranged marriages in traditional parts of southern Egypt contributed to adultery because women ended up with men they hardly know.

The comments led to an outburst of protests on social media. A video later surfaced with men from southern Egypt insulting and issuing death threats against Sobky.

(See Twitter link for Sobky's translated television comments and death threat.)

Sobky, who later said his comments had been taken out of context, may appeal the sentence.

Chase Winter (AFP, Reuters)