Egyptian television host Ahmed Moussa has been sentenced to two years in jail and a fine of LE 20,000 for insulting former chief of the Democratic Front party and writer Osama El-Ghazali Harb, the Ahram Arabic news website has reported.

The Cairo Misdemeanours Court acquitted Mohamed Aboul-Einen, the owner of the Sada El-Balad TV channel that broadcasts Moussa’s daily show.

Harb’s lawyer had filed a lawsuit against Moussa for insulting his client on 20 September 2014 during his TV show, whose title translates as “I take responsibility”.

In his show, Moussa claimed that Harb had conspired against Egypt and received foreign funds.

In an article titled “The counter-revolution” for Al-Ahram daily newspaper earlier on the same day, Harb had accused some media outlets of tarnishing the image of the 2011 revolution.

Moussa is known to be a staunch opponent of the January 25 revolution that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak after three decades of rule. He has repeatedly launched verbal attacks on activists associated with the 2011 uprising, but had never yet been summoned to court over such attacks.

On September 23, the journalists' syndicate questioned Moussa, who is also a journalist for the Ahram newspaper, for allegedly breaching the media code of ethics and attacking the 2011 revolt, following complaints by other journalists. 

In a similar case, he was sentenced to six months in jail for insulting a lawyer for the Zamalek football club's Ultras White Knights fan club.