Egyptian Singer Jailed For ‘Inciting Debauchery’ By Eating A Banana In Her Music Video

Little-known Egyptian singer Shyma has been sentenced to two years behind bars because of a music video.

The song, entitled ‘I Have Issues’, sparked outage in her notoriously conservative homeland after it showed the singer performing in her underwear while suggestively eating a banana.

As the ABC reports, both Shyma and her video’s director were fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds and sentenced to two years behind bars for ‘inciting debauchery’ and ‘producing a video harming public morality’.

Shyma denied the accusations in court, claiming that the director included the controversial scenes without her consent, but it seems her defence fell on deaf ears.

Both convicts now have the option of appealing the verdict to a higher court.

Their harsh sentence comes after dozens of young Egyptians were arrested back in September, also for inciting debauchery and harming public morality, after attending a concert in Cairo where a rainbow flag was raised (which kind of makes you feel lucky to live in Australia).

Watch a clip from Shyma’s criminal music video below.