Actress faces jail in Egypt for wearing ‘obscene’ dress
An Egyptian actress has been charged with public obscenity over a dress that was deemed to be too revealing.
Rania Youssef appeared at the closing ceremony of a film festival in Cairo wearing a see-through dress which revealed the entirety of her legs.
Her trial, scheduled to start on January 12, follows a complaint to the chief prosecutor by a group of lawyers.
Egypt is a mostly conservative country with a Muslim majority.
The Arab state of 100 million people has retained vestiges of secularism despite decades of growing religious conservatism, but Youssef’s case serves as a reminder that Islamic fundamentalism continues to have a voice five years after an Islamist president was ousted by the military amid mass protests against his rule.
Youssef, who is in her 30s, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.