Mona Al-Madbouh Youtube video screenshot
Egyptian police arrested Thursday night Mona Al-Madbouh, a Lebanese woman who criticised several aspects of daily life during her current stay in Egypt using explicit language and severe insults to the Egyptian people.
Al-Madbouh appeared in a video on her facebook page, in which she spoke in rage about a sexual harassment incident she said had experienced in Egypt, and went on to insult Egyptian men and women.
In the 10 minute video, Al-Madbouh also took aim at Egyptian manners in daily life situations.
“Security forces arrested the Lebanese woman in accordance with a decision from Top Prosecutor Nabil Ahmed Sadek for her insults to the Egyptian people and political leadership published in a video on her Facebook page, which involved words and phrases punishable by law," a statement published on the official website of Egypt's state TV channel.
Before her arrest, Al-Madbouh posted a second video on her Facebook account apologising to some people on her page, saying her first video was not intended to be seen by a public audience and had been stolen from her account.
“I understand the Egyptian people's response to the video, I definitely didn’t mean to offend all Egyptians or to generalise," she said, adding that most of her first video was narrated in a Lebanese dialect and may have been misunderstood.
“I love Egypt and have many friends here, and I am the first one to defend this country,” Al-Madbouh said, adding that her insults in the first video were aimed at a specific bad sector that exists in every country.
She also denied being paid to record the video or having any involvement in politics.
“The arrest of Al-Madbouh came after several complaints were filed due to her severe insults to Egyptian men and women,” the statement said.
Short link: