Egyptian Salafist politican fined for public indecency

Former MP with the ultra-puritan Nour Party is slapped with penalty and suspended prison sentence after court finds him guilty of 'indecent' act with a young student

An Egyptian Salafist politician has been found guilty of performing an "indecent" sexual act in public, receiving a one-year suspended sentence and a fine of LE1,000 ($165).
Ali Wanis, a member of the Nour Party in Egypt's dissolved Parliament, was arrested in early June when police discovered him engaged in a sexual act with a 22-year-old woman in a car parked on a coastal highway.
The female university student arrested with Wania was given a 6-month suspended sentence and fined LE500 ($82).
The court also found Wanis guilty of assaulting a police officer during his arrest, handing him a further 6-month suspended sentence and a LE500 fine.
After the June incident, Wanis denied any wrongdoing and said in a video posted on his website that he had parked along the side of the road because his passenger "became sick."
The Nour Party, which represents an ultra-conservative and puritan brand of Islam, won the second largest number of seats in parliamentary elections last winter after the Muslim Brotherhood.
The parliament is now dissolved because of a court ruling deeming it unconstitutional.
The same Salafist party was hit by scandal earlier in March when another lawmaker was forced to resign from parliament and the party after claiming he was injured in a carjacking.It was eventually revealed that the bandages on his face were due to a surgical nose job.