Mounir Marzuq: Egyptian Poet Jailed For Poking Fun At Mubarak

An Egyptian civil servant was sentenced to the maximum sentence of three years in jail Tuesday for a poem he wrote satirizing President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, the AFP reports. The penalty for insulting a head of state in Egypt is a jail sentence of anywhere between 24 hours and 3 years. According to AFP:

Marzuq was jailed in Maghagha, southern Egypt, in May after a colleague lodged a formal complaint about the poem deemed insulting to Mubarak, in power since 1981.

The case came to light after the penalised poet's brother appealed to the 81-year-old Mubarak for clemency, the independent Al-Masri Al-Youm reported.

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