An Egyptian newspaper editor was sentenced to a year in jail on Monday for publishing an "indecent" front-page photo of an Egyptian actress, court sources said.
Al-Naba weekly newspaper, known for testing conservative Egyptian sensibilities, had published a picture in January of actress Hala Sedqi that prosecutors said "reveals a sensitive part" of her body. They did not say which part of her body.
In addition to jailtime, the paper's editor, Hatem Mamdouh Mahran, was fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,600) and granted bail of 5,000 pounds. He has vowed to appeal.
Mahran said the picture of the Christian television and film actress is a still shot from a recent movie, and that the newspaper had neither taken the picture nor altered it.
It was the second time a member of Mahran's family has been ordered jailed for media offences. His father Mamdouh was sentenced to three years in jail in 2001 after he enraged Egypt's Coptic Christian minority by publishing a sexually explicit report and photographs about a Coptic monk's alleged sexual affairs. Mamdouh Mahran died in while serving his term.
The verdict against Mahran was the latest in a string of rulings that have handed jail terms to at least 12 journalists since September on charges ranging from defaming President Hosni Mubarak to misquoting the minister of justice.
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