Lebanese woman jailed in Egypt for harrassment claim video is to be freed

Mona Al Mazbouh was originally sentenced to eight years in prison

Supporters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Tahrir square after presidential election results in Cairo, Egypt  April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Egypt will free a Lebanese woman jailed for eight years for "harming" its people after claiming in a video to have been sexually assaulted, a judicial source said on Sunday.

Tourist Mona Al Mazbouh was arrested in late May at Cairo International Airport as she was preparing to leave Egypt, and she was jailed for eight years in July.

She had published a video on Facebook, which was widely shared, saying she had been the victim of sexual harassment in the streets and accusing Egyptians of stealing.

She appealed the verdict and it was accepted by a Cairo court, the source said.

The court also reduced her sentence to a one-year suspended jail term.

Her lawyer, Emad Kamal, said that Ms Al Mazbouh would be able to leave Egypt "within days" after paying 30,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh6,168) in fines.

Initially the prosecution had accused her of "spreading false rumours and undermining religions" before finding her guilty of "harming the Egyptian people".

Ms Al Mazbouh's allegations drew angry reactions online, with some Egyptians calling for her arrest and lodging a complaint against her.

But she released a second video insisting she had not meant to insult the country as a whole.

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Egypt jails Lebanese woman after harassment claim video