Friday March 29th, 2024
Download SceneNow app
Copied

The Verdict Is In: Mona Iraqi Has Been Acquitted Of Charges Upon Appeal

Al Qahera W El Nas reporter and TV host Mona Iraqi has been acquitted of charges of defamation and false reporting by a misdemeanour court.

Staff Writer

TV host and popular homophobe Mona Iraqi has been acquitted of charges of false reporting, defamation, and libel, by a misdemeanour court on Monday January 18th. The ruling comes after the controversial journalist appealed an earlier six-month prison sentence she was meted out in November; the sentence also stipulated a 10,000 LE bail and a 10,000 LE fine. 

The lawsuit was set forth by 26 men who were arrested at a Cairo bathhouse that she cooperated with police in raiding. The arrest was filmed for an episode of Iraqi’s TV show El Mestekhabi, which aired on Al Qahera W Al Nas on December 7th, 2014. The men had been tried for ‘debauchery’, legal code for homosexuality - a charge that was later dismissed due to insufficient evidence.  

The episode, which was spun as an AIDS awareness campaign, received widespread criticism for slandering and invading the personal lives of these men. In the wake of the controversy, Iraqi was fired from the Shnit International Short Film Festival.

(Photo retrieved from Mona Iraqi's Facebook page)