Lebanese woman detained by Egypt after viral video slamming sexual harassment

Mona el-Mazboh was arrested at Cairo airport at the end of her stay in Egypt and charged with insulting Egyptians in a video uploaded to her Facebook account.
2 min read
03 June, 2018
Mona el-Mazboh was arrested at Cairo airport at the end of her stay. [Getty]

A Lebanese woman has been detained in Egypt since Thursday after uploading a viral video detailing her experience of sexual harassment in the country.

Mona el-Mazboh was arrested at Cairo airport at the end of her stay in Egypt and charged with insulting Egyptians in a video uploaded to her Facebook account, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

Mazboh called Egypt a "son of a bitch country" in the video and added: "You deserve what Sisi is doing to you, I hope God sends you someone more oppressive than Sisi."

Before being detained, el-Mazboh had posted a second video on Facebook apologising to some people for her comments.

"I definitely didn't mean to offend all Egyptians, and never meant to say anything about the country's political affairs," she said.

"I love all Egyptians and I love this country, that's why I visited it more than once and I keep coming back."

Last month, police in Egypt detained activist Amal Fathy after she posted a video on social media criticising the government for failing to protect women against sexual harassment and worsening living conditions.

Fathy is being questioned on charges of inciting to overthrow the ruling system and publishing lies, Reuters reported.

Egyptian authorities have led a brutal crackdown on political dissidents since the 2013 coup, rounding up thousands and sentencing hundreds to life in prison, or death, in grossly unfair mass trials.

Human rights groups estimate that as many as 60,000 political prisoners languish in Egyptian jails, significantly more than under Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship.