By Sana Elouazi
Rabat – A young Egyptian pop singer was arrested on Saturday, November 18, after she appeared in her first music video in lingerie. Egyptian authorities have charged her with “inciting debauchery.”
Many complaints have been filed following the release of the video calling it “indecent.”
The young singer, known as Shyma, appears in a mock classroom licking an apple and simulating fellatio on a banana, in front of a chalkboard scribbled with “Class # 69” and the letters “Vag.”
After her detention, the video, which gained 150,000 on YouTube within 24 hours after its release, is no longer available on the streaming site, and all versions are blocked by the publisher.
The Egyptian daily Youm7 has denounced the pop singer, saying that “Shyma presents a lesson of depravity to young people”.
The music video has also sparked strong reactions on social media.
pic.twitter.com/nDUDozcgKV
Oh! The banned song clip is a copy! And singer Shyma was graduated in Al Azhar university!!!— Candy Rukh Khan ?? (@Kemet2MkMert) November 16, 2017
An Egyptian Song WTF ??? Shyma – Andy Zoroof https://t.co/BplFiFhDOL via
— amr odtallah (@amr_3s) November 16, 2017
On her Facebook account, the young woman apologized in a now-deleted post that reads. “I apologize to all those who were disturbed by the clip and considered it indecent,” wrote the 21-year-old singer.
Shyma added that she did not expect to be “the target of such virulent attack from everyone, as a young singer […] who dreamed of becoming a singer from a young age.”
According to Egyptian Independent, the prosecution accuses her of committing a “shameful act,” a crime punishable by a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a LE 300 fine.
She was also accused of committing a “shameful act in public,” which could be punishable by three years in jail.
Shyma’s arrest follows recent crackdowns on public displays of sexuality in Egypt.
At least 50 people suspected of homosexuality were arrested after waving a rainbow flag at a recent concert by the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila in Cairo.
In 2015, the Egyptian court sentenced to one year in prison a dancer for actions considered indecent in a music video, while several others pleaded guilty and received jail sentences for what it called “debauchery” and “incitement to debauchery.”
