Egyptian TV host Mohamed al-Ghiety has been fined and sentenced to one year of hard labor after interviewing a gay man on his privately owned TV channel last year.
According to the BBC, Egypt has barred gay people from appearing in any of the country’s media outlets and the government has been arresting suspected homosexuals in recent months, relying on a 1961 law that criminalizes “habitual debauchery.”
al-Ghiety’s case stems from an August 2018 interview in which the host, who himself has expressed anti-LGBT views in the past, interviewed a man identified as a gay sex worker on the air. The man’s face was concealed as he expressed regret about his sexuality, per the BBC.
Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation took LTC TV off the air in response to the interview, and al-Ghiety was charged with “promoting homosexuality” on his channel.
He has been sentenced to one year of jail time in addition to a fine of 3,000 Egyptian pounds, or $167, as well as one year of surveillance following the completion of his sentence.