An Egyptian court has on Saturday sentenced a lawyer, who said woman wearing ripped jeans should be
raped to three years in prison, a judicial source said.
The sentence against Nabih al-Wahsh was passed in absentia
as the lawyer, previously released on bail, did not attend the hearing on
Saturday.
Wahsh’s comments during a television programme had provoked
outrage and complaints to the state prosecutor, who decided to put him on
trial.
Wahsh had said it was a “national duty” to rape women
wearing tight, ripped jeans.
The prosecution had charged him with “publicly inciting to
flout the law” and “spreading with malice reports and statements meant to
perturb public order… and harm the public interest”.
The sentence can be appealed.
Egyptian women have long complained of rampant sexual
harassment, which the government has been working for several years to address
with a tougher law.
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