Egyptian court suspends Islamic TV show over libel

— An Egyptian court ordered a religious TV program hosted by a fiery preacher off the air on charges of libeling and defaming a well-known actress. It was one of three legal reverses suffered by Islamists on Saturday in cases dealing with the media.

The Cairo court ruled that the program “In The Scale” be suspended for 30 days following a lawsuit by Elham Chahine. A widely circulated video clip shows the program’s host, Abdullah Badr, accusing Chahine of practicing “prostitution” and “teaching Egyptians how to strip naked, make love and commit adultery.”

“Go ask God for forgiveness for your scandals,” he said in the August interview. Chahine’s lawyer said in court that the actress had been exposed to “insults, cursing and humiliation.”

Last month, Badr was sentenced to a year in jail over the same charges. The program is aired on el-Hafiz TV, one of several networks associated with the ultraconservative Salafi Islamist movement.

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