Press release
By: Committee for Justice
Geneva: June 20, 2022
The Supreme State Security Prosecution in Egypt has concluded its investigations with 3 young men after the spread of a video clip of one of them singing at a festival inside a mosque in Qalyubia Governorate, north of the capital, Cairo.
Spreading fake news:
The prosecution ordered the detention of the three young men for 15 days pending investigations in Case No. 440 of 2022, and charged them with “joining a terrorist group, deliberately publishing false information and using a special account on internet with the aim of committing the publishing crime.”
The TikTok video clip which had gone viral last week showed a young man dancing to a popular song inside a mosque, which sparked outrage on social media platforms.
The Egyptian Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of the young man who appeared in the clip, and said in a statement that “the Public Prosecution Office monitored the circulation of a clip of a young man singing and showing off with a microphone inside a mosque, which coincided with a complaint filed with the Ministry of Interior, based on which the account of the accused was monitored. His details were identified, so the Public Prosecution began its investigations and ordered his arrest.”
Old video:
The first response of the ministry of religious affairs to the incident was declaring that the video was filmed more than a year ago while carrying out maintenance and restoration work inside this mosque, according to what was reported by Egyptian media.A ministry official explained that this person took advantage of his presence in the mosque while he was carrying out the work of painting it.
The ministry vowed that “the young man and anyone who violates the sanctity of mosques will not go unpunished,” according to Egyptian news sites.
