An Egyptian TV host has been sentenced to one year in prison after interviewing a gay man on his talk show.
Mohamed al-Gheiti, who previously expressed his stance against homosexuality, invited the man to discuss his lifestyle on air in August 2018.
The move led to the misdemeanors court in Giza charging him with promoting homosexuality, incitement to debauchery and immorality and contempt of religion . He was also fined 3,000 Egyptian pounds (£130).
According to the Egypt Independent , lawyer Samir Sabry filed the case against the TV host with the attorney-general, saying he had violated the basic rules, laws and religious constants.
During the interview, the guest, whose face was blurred to protect his identity, revealed he was a sex worker and openly discussed his relationship with another man.
Mr Sabry insisted that answers to questions about homosexual lifestyles should not be broadcast on satellite or any other media.
After the interview aired on LTC TV, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Egypt’s top media body, suspended the channel for two weeks for “professional violations”.
The council said at the time that the LTC TV had violated its decision “banning the appearance of homosexuals or promotion of their slogans”.
Mr al-Gheiti will be put under surveillance for one year after serving his one-year prison sentence. The verdict can be appealed, and it can be suspended if he pays bail of 1,000 Egyptian pounds pending the outcome of the appeal.
Although homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, members of the LGBT+ community have previously been charged with debauchery in the deeply conservative Muslim country.
Meanwhile, this January Angola became the first country in 2019 to decriminalise homosexuality. Making it a well-rounded win, lawmakers also passed a bill that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment. The bill passed with 155 votes in favor, one against and seven abstentions.
The country’s new law will see people who discriminate against members of the LGBT community be subject to up to 2 years in prison.
The country’s old penal code was put in place by its colonizers, Portugal, in 1975, allowing discrimination of LGBT people in terms of education, employment, and even healthcare.
Angola now joins other African countries like South Africa, Lesotho and Seychelles to become places where LGBT people can live without the fear of state-sanctioned discrimination and violence.
