Egyptian Editor Sentenced to Prison

By: Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press Writer (AP) The editor of a newspaper whose story on a monk's alleged sex-and-blackmail scheme sparked riots was convicted Sunday of undermining public security and sentenced to three years in prison.

In its ruling against Mamdouh Mahran, editor of the small weekly Al-Nabaa, the court did not say whether the allegations in the article were true, but it may issue a more comprehensive verdict later.

Mahran, who was not in court Sunday, published a story in June claiming that a Coptic Orthodox monk had sex with women in a southern Egyptian monastery and then blackmailed them.

A lawyer for the Coptic Orthodox Church said the sentence for the monk, who has been defrocked, was too lenient. "Three years is not enough. We expected a more deterrent sentence," said the lawyer, Naguib Gobraiell.

The article, illustrated with blurred photographs, caused an outcry. The church condemned it, saying the man was no longer a monk and denying that any sex occurred inside the monastery. Hundreds of Copts demonstrated in Cairo and clashed with police.

The Emergency State Security Court in Cairo was ringed by heavy security Sunday as it convicted Mahran of publishing material that undermined public security and inciting the public against Christian clerics. A few people in the courtroom applauded the ruling, shouting "Long live justice!"

In addition to the prison sentence, the judges fined Mahran $47 and ordered the confiscation of the June 17 edition of Al-Nabaa and the videotape from which the photographs taken.

Defense lawyers criticized the judgment. "This is a (politically) motivated and hasty verdict," lawyer Nabih el-Wahsh told the Associated Press.

The verdict and sentence can be appealed only to President Hosni Mubarak.

The Press Syndicate supported the Church's protests over the article and revoked Mahran's membership, preventing him from working as a journalist. However, Mahran successfully appealed to Egypt's Administrative Court.

Copts make up about 10% the population of mostly Muslim Egypt.