Egyptian court confirms dismissal of lecturer who shared belly dancing clip on facebook

A top Egyptian court has upheld a decision to expel an academic from her university job after she published a video of herself belly dancing, according to court ruling seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Mona Prince, who was an English language lecturer at the state-run Suez University, posted a video in 2017 on her personal Facebook page showing herself belly dancing on a terrace in a blue galabeya, or traditional long dress.

The post stirred controversy, and some students later complained that Prince had undermined religious values with the content she presented during her teaching.

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court said Prince had committed violations including “deviating from the scientific description of the academic curricula and spreading ideas that contradict heavenly beliefs and public order”.

It also said that the posting and sharing of the belly dancing clip “degrades the prestige of university professors and their responsibility to spread values”.

The court’s verdict is final and bars Prince from working in private or public universities. It is the latest of a number of rulings in Egypt that women’s rights activists say represent an attempt to enforce conservative religious and social values while restricting personal freedoms.

Prince declined to comment, referring to social media posts in which she said the court’s decision made her “sad for Egypt, sad for our history, civilization, and culture”.