Fury as pop stars jailed for viral clip featuring raunchy Brazilian belly dancer

Two pop stars have been jailed for making a viral video alongside a Brazilian belly dancer showcasing her raunchy moves.

Human rights groups slammed a court in Egypt after singers Hamo Beeka and Omar Kamal were given a one year prison sentence and fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds (£435).

In the YouTube clip the pair appear lip-synching whilst belly dancer Lordiana struts her stuff to the music.

A court in Alexandria found them guilty of "violating family values" and profiting from the video.

The court also ruled that Beeka and Kamal can have their jail terms suspended if they pay double their set fine.

The ruling has been linked to a wider crackdown on artistic expression in Egypt, with Human Rights Watch accusing the country of controlling social media with its "abusive and ill-defined family values".

Beeka and Kamal aren't the first to fall foul of Egypt's strict cybercrime law articles, as several young women have been hit with hefty fines and handed prison sentences of up to five years.

Human Rights Watch have called for the cybercrime law articles to be repealed so that free expression is no longer criminalised in Egypt.

The state-run Musicians' Syndicate has increasingly been applying morality standards to artists since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took office.

For example, Kamal was found to have violated these standards because he used words such as "alcohol" and "hashish".

Mahraganat, a new and popular genre of electronic music championed by artists like Beeka and Kamal, has been one of the prime targets of the crackdown, according to the BBC.

The upbeat genre, popular with less well-off people in Egypt, became internationally popular after it featured in new Marvel series Moon Knight.

The Musicians' Syndicate has banned several mahraganat artists from performing in public, with Kamal among those blacklisted.

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