Egyptian Lawyer Sentenced to Prison After Making Controversial Rape Comments

Cairo, Egypt — Nabih al-Wahsh, a lawyer in Egypt, has been sentenced to three years in prison for comments he recently made about rape back in October. During a televised debate on a draft law on prostitution, he reportedly said (in Arabic) that women who wear ripped jeans deserve to be raped.

During the interview, Nabih specifically said, “Are you happy when you see a girl walking down the street with half of her behind showing? … When a girl walks about like that, it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass them.” He then stated that women who wore revealing clothes were “inviting men to harass them” and that “protecting morals is more important than protecting borders”.

The country’s National Council for Women’s Rights said that his comments were a “flagrant call” for rape and violated “everything in the Egyptian constitution.” After an uproar on social media, he was finally arrested.

In addition to his prison sentence, he was also fined fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about $1,100 USD).

But this is not the first controversial remark made by Nabih. During a separate TV interview, he once commented, “If I see any Israeli, I will kill him.”