CAIRO - Administrative prosecutors in the Upper Egyptian city of Beni Sueif have referred to a disciplinary trial a Ministry of Education official for libeling Egypt's political administration and newly elected MPs in a poem, which they said incited sectarianism. "Munir Hanna, a Coptic teacher at a vocational school in Maghagha, Beni Seuif, will stand a disciplinary trial for insulting the political administration and the newly elected MPs," said judge Moustafa Taymour, the chief administrative prosecutor in the district. He added that the unpublished poem composed by Hanna had offended the nerves of his Muslim colleagues, who were calmed down, "otherwise there could be sedition". "The behaviour of Hanna contradicts that of a well-behaved teacher who is supposed to respect his country's administration and his colleagues, and convey this respect to his pupils," the judge added. Hanna published a limited copy of the poem, which allegedly slandered some figures in neighboring Arab countries. Hanna was sentenced to three years in jail in 2009 for insulting President Hosni Mubarak in a poem. However, the ruling was then revoked. Also in 2009, a Cairo court overturned the one-year prison sentences of four editors convicted of defaming Mubarak and the ruling National Democratic Party, but fined them LE20,000 ($3,800) each.
