Egyptian female writer jailed for insulting Islam

Fatima Naoot criticised the slaughter of animals during Eidul Azha

CAIRO: An Egyptian court jailed Tuesday a female writer for three years for insulting Islam after she criticised the slaughter of animals during a major religious festival, a judicial official said.

Fatima Naoot went on trial last year after she wrote "Happy Massacre" on her Facebook page in October 2014 during Eidul Azha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice.

On Tuesday, a Cairo court found her guilty of having "insulted Islam" and sentenced her to three years in jail. She was also ordered to pay a fine of 2,000 Egyptian pounds.



"I'm not sad about the sentencing as I don't care about going to jail. I'm sad that the efforts of reformists have been wasted," Naoot told AFP.

Her lawyer said he would appeal the sentence.

Animals are slaughtered during Eid to commemorate the willingness of prophet Abraham to fulfil God's command to sacrifice his own son, although in the end God provided him with a sheep.



In December, an Egyptian court jailed controversial Muslim scholar Islam al-Behairy to one year in jail for remarks he made on his television programme, in which he called for reforms in "traditional Islamic discourse".

On his show, Behairy often used to question ancient Islamic preachings and centuries-old interpretations of the faith.

That came as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has repeatedly urged reforms in interpretation of the faith.



Behairy had been initially sentenced to five years on charges of insulting Islam, but that sentence was reduced to one year on appeal.