Egyptian court upholds comic actor's jail sentence for insulting Islam

Cairo, Apr 25 (ANI): An Egyptian court has upheld the three-month prison sentence given to a leading comic actor, Adel Imam, for insulting Islam in his films and plays.

Imam, 71, was also fined 170 dollars by the court in Cairo.

In a case brought against Imam by Asran Mansour, a lawyer with ties to Islamist groups, the actor was accused of frequently mocking the authorities and politicians in his films and plays, and offending Islam and its symbols, The BBC reports.

Mansour was reportedly offended by the film Al-Irhabi (The Terrorist), in which Imam plays a radical Islamist.

According to the report, he was also offended by a play satirising Middle Eastern autocrats, and a film, which sees a rich businessman stand for parliament.

Imam's movies regularly top the Egyptian box office and the types of roles he played had varied enormously across his career. (ANI)