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Egypt's prosecutors take aim at pop stars

In Egypt, where popular music videos are offending public morals, charges of indecency are being filed against a number of dancers.
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CAIRO — Rida al-Fouly, also called Salma, is known for her video clip "Sib Idi" ("Let Go of my Hand"). Suha Muhammad Ali, known as Egypt's Shakira, has a famous video clip called "Al-Kamoun" ("Cumin"), and Dalia Kamal Youssef, whose stage name is Radis, is the dancer in "Ya Wad ya Tqil" ("You Cold-Hearted Man"). On June 2, lawyers Mohammed al-Nimr filed charges with the general prosecutor's office against the three Egyptian dancers for incitement, immorality and indecency, crimes punishable by three months to more than three years in prison, according to Article 9 of Law No. 10/1961 on the Combating of Prostitution.

It all started March 25, when forces from the General Directorate for the Investigation of the Arts arrested Fouly on charges of incitement, immorality and indecency. The video clip’s producer, Wael Sadiqi, who holds Egyptian and US nationalities, fled to Tunisia then to the United States. He had lived there for 17 years from 1996 to 2013 and had done a series of documentaries in 2014 under the name of “Let Me Show You Egypt,” to promote Egyptian tourism. The film, dubbed in English, French and Arabic, was donated to the Egyptian state broadcaster.

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