Sherine sentenced to 6 months in prison over "insulting Egypt"

CAIRO – 27 February 2018: The Egyptian Court sentenced the famous Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of LE 5,000 for insulting Egypt. Abdel Wahab was accused of insulting her home country during a performance and spreading provocative publicity.

The singer made an ill-humored joke during one of her recent concerts in Lebanon, where one of the fans asked her to perform “Mashrebtesh Min Nilha” (Have You Drank from Egypt’s Nile?). Abdel Wahab replied that she would get Schistosomiasis if she drank it, a phrase seen as inappropriate by many social media users.

“We will continue drinking the Nile’s water and will stop listening to Sherine’s songs,” was the name of the hashtag that launched immediately in response to her answer. The Hashtag topped trends in Egypt for the few hours that followed Abdel Wahab’s declaration.

The Health Ministry previously released a statement that contended the singer’s allegations. The statement stated that Egypt has fought Schistosomiasis and reduced its prevalence to 0.2 percent.

The Egyptian Musicians Syndicate decided, after conducting the necessary investigations, on banning Abdel Wahab from singing in Egypt for two months. This period ended on January 14, 2018.

“There are some envious people who seek to harm Sherine and ruin the great accomplishments she achieved in the past few years. She will come to the syndicate to defend herself and clear her position,” Reda Ragab, the Deputy Head of the Musicians Syndicate recounted previously.

“We should turn this page and be all fully dedicated to support our country culturally and artistically at this current historic stage to achieve the aspirations of the great Egyptian people,” the renowned Egyptian singer and the syndicate Head Hani Shaker previously stated that, commenting on the syndicate's decision to outlawed Abdel Wahab from singing.

Abdel Wahab, 37, is a popular Egyptian singer who was born in 1980. She started her career in 2000. Two years later, the music producer Nassr Mahrous who strongly believed in Abdel Wahab paired her with Tamer Hosny on the same music album.

The album achieved booming success; Abdel Wahab and Hosny became mega stars.
Abdel Wahab released a lot of successful songs such as “Masha’aer’’ (Emotions), "Albi Leek" (My heart is for you),”Garh Tany” (Another wound), “Lazem Ayesh” (I have to survive), “Batmenak” (I am Reassuring you) among others.

She acted in only one movie along with the Egyptian mega star Ahmed Helmy entitled “Mido Mashakel” (Mido always makes problems).Her only soap opera “Tare’y” (My path), release in 2015, achieved great success.

Abdel Wahab is famous for her emotional melodious voice that has a significant touch of intimacy. She is consistently hailed as one of the most talented and successful singers of her era, being dubbed as “The Queen of Emotions” for her popular romantic ballads.