Egypt: TV anchor gets one-year prison sentence for interviewing gay sex worker

An Egyptian court has sentenced a TV anchor to one year in prison after his received a gay sex worker on his show last year.

Mohammed el-Gheiti, a host and owner of private channel LTC TV, was indicted for “encouraging immorality” for interviewing in August 2018 a gay man who described his life as a prostitute, on the show.

Aside from the prison sentence, el-Gheiti will pay a $167 fine.

The trial was held after lawyer Samir Sabry sued el-Gheiti for video segments of the interview.

The man interviewed has not been identified, his face was blurred during the program.

After Sabry launched the lawsuit, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Media Regulation, immediately took the channel off air for two weeks, citing “professional violations”, BBC reports.

Homosexually is not criminalized in Egypt but the largely conservative Muslim nation is against it. Authorities have repeatedly arrested people suspected of engaging in homosexual relations, deemed as “debauchery, immorality or blasphemy.”

Last year in September, law enforcement forces rounded up a score of people after some individuals exhibited a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo, in support of the LGBT community.

El-Gheiti can appeal against the verdict.