Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CAIRO (AP) — A rights lawyer says an Egyptian military court has sentenced a poet to three years in prison for insulting the country's security forces.
The lawyer, Mokhtar Mounir, said Tuesday that Galal el-Beheiri was also convicted of "disseminating false news."
The verdict can be appealed.
El-Beheiri was arrested in March after he wrote a collection of poems entitled "The Best Women on Earth," a play on a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that Egypt was the birthplace of "the best soldiers on earth."
In recent years, authorities have detained journalists, novelists, playwrights and stage actors on charges that include contempt of religion, harming national security, inciting strife or breaching morality. Their arrest is part of an ongoing crackdown on dissent that has seen thousands jailed.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
