A misdemeanor court in Cairo has released controversial TV host Islam Beheiry from jail on a LE50,000 bail, pending consideration of his appeal following a five-year sentence over charges of blasphemy.
Beheiry was sentenced to five years in prison in May for insulting Islam during his nightly show on satellite TV channel al-Kahera wal Nas.
The show mainly focused on challenging the credibility of the narrators of Prophet Muhammad’s “Hadiths”' (quoted teachings), most specifically Imam al-Bukhari (AD 810-870), an almost unquestioned scholar in hadith narration. A request by Al-Azhar prompted the channel to suspend the show.
Beheiry said in earlier statements that he was facing more than 40 lawsuits related to his program.
On Monday, the court postponed consideration of his appeal to December 28.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
