Egyptian actress Rania Youssef will face trial next month after being charged with public obscenity for wearing a partially see-through dress to a film festival in Cairo, according to the Associated Press.
The black, lacy dress revealed most of her legs. Here’s her outfit:
Wondering what's happening in Egypt? Actress Rania Youssef wore this dress to the Cairo International Film Festival. ⬇️
A group of lawyers then took it upon themselves to submit a legal complaint against Rania for what they have determined to be too revealing for a dress. pic.twitter.com/PPBezxd04E
— Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany) December 1, 2018
A group of lawyers filed a complaint to the chief prosecutor; Youssef’s trial is set to start on Jan. 12. She could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Youssef released the following statement on her Facebook page:
Here is a rough translation of Youssef’s statement, courtesy of Facebook’s translate tool:
In Respect of the feelings of every Egyptian family that pissed off the dress I wore at the Cairo International Film Festival, I would like to emphasize that I did not mean to appear in a way that was infuriating and angry by many For the first time, I didn’t expect it to raise all this anger
And the opinions of fashion designers and fashion specialists often affect the choice of clothing decisions, and they may have taken into account that we are
And I wasn’t expecting everything that happened, and if I knew why I wore the
Here, I reiterate that we hold on to the values and morality that we have been raised in the Egyptian Society, which has been, and
If I am proud to be an artist with a good and positive balance in my audience, I wish everyone to understand my good faith and not want to upset anyone, and if God wants I
I also cherish the fact that the union of artists and its role are being protected and protected for values and their defence of art and artists. #Rania _ Youssef
Egypt is a conservative country. The majority of its citizens are Muslim.