An Egyptian misdemeanors court on Wednesday fined controversial preacher Khaled Abdullah LE10,000 – and slapped him with a three-year suspended jail sentence – for slandering and defaming Egyptian actress Hala Fakher.
The veteran actress filed the lawsuit against the preacher after he had insulted her during his television programme on the religious Al-Nass channel, and made offensive comments about her in a weekly newspaper.
Abdullah, notorious for his foul-mouthed language and mockery of opposition and liberal figures, hurled insults at the actress for a comment she made in favour of Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
Last November, a court ordered the infamous preacher's show taken off the air for a 25-day period. The ruling came within the context of a defamation lawsuit against Abdullah filed by former police officer Amr Affifi.
In recent months, a number of Egyptian public figures have filed lawsuits against religious preachers, often accusing them of defamation.
Abdullah Badr, another acid-tongued preacher, was also recently convicted and incarcerated for insulting popular Egyptian actress Elham Shaheen.
In December of last year, Badr was sentenced to one year in jail with bail set at LE20,000.
Shaheen brought the case against Badr after he had accused her on his television show of 'promoting adultery' in her films. His programme, which airs on the religious Hafez channel, was also suspended for a one-month period.
