Popular Egyptian Comedian Adel Imam Convicted for Offending Islam

On Tuesday, an Egyptian court upheld a conviction against Adel Imam, a popular comedian and actor there.

Imam, who is 71 and whose career spans five decades, has been sentenced to jail and fined — convicted of offending Islam in his films.

Marco Werman talks to Reporter Ursula Lindsay in Cairo, who says that those who work in the creative arts find the conviction to be very troubling.

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Marco Werman: In Egypt it’s still all about what comes after the revolution. The country is getting ready for the presidential election next month. The previous parliamentary election, Egypt’s first after the revolution, were dominated by Islamist parties. That’s raised concerns among more secular Egyptians; those concerns were heightened yesterday when an Egyptian court upheld a conviction against Adel Imam; he’s one of Egypt’s most popular comedians. The actor was convicted of offending Islam in his films, and was sentenced to jail. Reporter, Ursula Lindsey, is following the story in Cairo. Tell us who exactly Adel Imam is, and how popular is his work in Egypt?

Ursula Lindsey: He’s really one of Egypt’s best known actors and probably one of the best known throughout the Middle East. He’s had a career of close to five decades and he’s a really well-known name in Egyptian cinema.

Werman: And so, what kind of films does he make and what are the objections that are now being raised to his work?

Lindsey: Well, he’s made every kind of film, but in quite a few, both dramas and comedies of the 80s and 90s, he portrayed in a quite broad stereotypical way sometimes characters that were Islamist or fundamentalist. You know, he portrayed characters wearing a fake beards, and the objections that are being raised are to some of these portrayals, or to remarks that are made about religion in movies that were really quite broad comedies.

Werman: So who is behind these charges, that his work is insulting to Islam?

Lindsey: Well the case is being brought forward by an Islamist lawyer. There are quite a few lawyers who bring these kind of cases and tend to have Islamist sympathies and connections and support, it’s not an uncommon charge. It’s one that’s deployed quite regularly.

Werman: In Egypt is it possible for any lawyer to initiate a case like this?

Lindsey: Yes, it is and so, this is kind of basically censorship through legal harassment is something that is a common technique. The difference now perhaps, is that as Egypt has witnessed the legalization of Islamist groups, the great electoral victories of Islamist parties recently. Of course, Islamist groups and their supporters feel that they are ascendants and they are emboldened and the courts themselves may be more likely to lend a sympathetic ear to these kinds of charges.

Werman: So Ursula, what’s then the reaction in Egypt to this conviction?

Lindsey: Well among artists and people who work in the cultural field, it is seen as a very worry-some sign of the kinds of censorship that artists could face. I mean, both because of his very high profile and because the basis of the charges seem so flimsy, I mean, if this is the kind of portrayal that can lead to a 3 month jail term, then artists are obviously very worried that further kinds of charges like this could be deployed against anybody.

Werman: Most people hearing this interview are probably thinking, “But they just had a revolution in Egypt so, what have the political changes and the oust of Mubarak meant for freedom of expression in Egypt for both the arts and elsewhere?”

Lindsey: Well actually artists have really pushed to have a greater freedom of expression for themselves. We have seen an explosion of artistic activity, you know, street festivals, public concerts, movie screenings, all sorts of unlicensed, free-wheeling, cultural activity that would not have been possible before. On the other hand, the laws have not been changed, so the possibility of taking someone to court on this charge of insulting Islam is still there, and that in fact, with this new 75% Islamist parliament, the Islamist majority is reportedly drafting a new law that would regulate censorship of movies and film.

Werman: Reporter Ursula Lindsey in Cairo, thank you very much.

Lindsey: Thank you.

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