/ 12 March 1999

‘NEARLY NUDE’ EGYPTIAN ACQUITTED

EGYPTIAN actress Yusra has been acquitted of outraging public morals over a risque photograph published on the cover of a cinema magazine four years ago, court officials said on Friday.Yusra was convicted after two Islamist lawyers complained that she appeared “nearly nude” in the November 1995 cover photograph of Al-Cinema wal-Nass.Defence lawyers argued that the photo was taken from scenes in an anti-Islamist film that had been passed by Egypt’s censor.Under Egyptian law, anyone who publishes or distributions photographs deemed offensive to public morals risks a prison sentence of up two years or a fine of up to $150 or both.