Belly dancer going to prison for "showing the flag"

CAIRO -- An Egyptian court has sentenced a popular Armenian belly dancer to six months in prison for "insulting the Egyptian flag" after she allegedly wore a tight dress in the flag's red, white and black color scheme.

The court in Agouza, west of Cairo, said on Monday that Sofinar Gourian, known popularly as "Safinaz," was fined 15,000 pounds -- roughly $2,000 -- plus she paid another 10,000 pounds bail pending appeal. The case was initiated by a private complaint.

Insulting the flag was made illegal by decree under Egyptian President Adly Mansour, who ruled for a year after the army overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. Gourian, an Armenian who lives in Egypt, had argued that she did not insult the flag intentionally and that as a foreigner she was less aware of Egyptian laws.