UK Edition
Female pop star arrested in Egypt over 'sexually suggestive' music video
A female pop star in Egypt has been arrested after posting a “sexually suggestive” music video, in the second such case there in recent months.
Leila Amer appeared in an online video called "Boss Oumek" or "Look at your mother", which includes sensual oriental dance and provocative gestures.
Prosecutors in Egypt have detained the singer for four days for "incitement to debauchery" after the clip sparked controversy in the increasingly conservative country.
Ahmed Mahran, the lawyer who filed a complaint, told local newspaper Youm7 that the video was a “great risk” to Egypt.
“These works represent an attack on society and the destruction of the state, it being an Islamic country,” he said, explaining his decision to pursue legal action.
Hany Shaker, president of the Musicians' Union and a male singer known for his conservative stance, last week announced that Ms Amer had been expelled from the union.
Her case comes less than a month after another female pop singer was sentenced to two years in prison over a racy video.
Shaima Ahmed, 21, known as Shyma to her fans, appeared in a mock classroom licking a banana in front of a chalkboard scrawled with the words "Class #69" for her song I Have Issues.
On Monday her sentence was reduced on appeal to a year in jail.
In 2015, two belly-dancers, Shakira and Bardis, were sentenced to six months in prison on charges for inciting debauchery and immorality in their music videos.
While Egypt is a religious Muslim country it does not have the severe social laws of its Gulf neighbours like Saudi Arabia.
Women walk the streets of the large cities with their heads uncovered, alcohol is easily available and the government once nationalised the Stella beer company.
The “golden age” of 1950s Egyptian cinema churned out films full of passionate love scenes and raunchy Carry On humour.
Rights activists say they are seeing the toughest crackdown on singers and the LGBT community in decades.