By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
One of the Arab world's most popular comedians was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday for the crime of insulting Islam.
This, not surprisingly, happened in the New Egypt.
Adel Imam, a truly iconic character in the Arabic world, has been an entertainment fixture for years. His shtick is to poke fun at politicians and politics. His humor is a test of the prevailing winds. At times, he went too far.
The sentence was handed down as a result of a 2001 movie called Morgan Ahmed Morgan. The film tells the story of a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a university diploma. The Egyptian sentencing judge said that Imam depicted Islamic symbols with disrespect and that he disrespectfully depicted a group of men dressed in Islamic garb. Imam went too far for the sensibilities of New Egyptian leadership.
Imam's most popular role was in a 1998 movie called Al Zaeem in which he played an Arab dictator. In 2008 he was found guilty of defaming lawyers, but that decision was overruled.
Adel Imam was tried in absentia. It was said that he was in Egypt recently to film a TV series but no one knows his current whereabouts.
One of the Arab world's most popular comedians has fallen out of favor by the New Egypt. During the rebellion Adel Imam defended Mubarak.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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