Egyptian court upholds sacking of professor who shared video of herself belly dancing at the rooftop of her house

An Egyptian court has upheld a verdict to expel a professor from a university for sharing videos of herself belly dancing on the rooftop of her house.

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 her belly dancing on a terrace in a blue galabeya (long traditional dress).

The video stirred controversy, and some students later complained that the Professor had undermined religious values with the content she posted.

The university sacked her in 2018 following an inquiry over the videos on her Facebook page.

A lower court affirmed the decision by state-run Suez University to fire Mona Prince.

Prince appealed but Egypt’s Supreme Administrative court dismissed the appeal.

The 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 womens 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”.