Pop star Sherine Abdel Wahab jailed in Egypt for ‘fake news’ after joking about catching parasites from polluted River Nile
Egyptian courts jailed the singer after she joked to fans that the River Nile is polluted, and they should drink bottled water instead
POP star Sherine Abdel Wahab has been jailed in Egypt for "fake news" after she made a joke about catching parasites in the River Nile.
The singer was given six months after joking the Nile was polluted, which prosecutors used to accuse her of insulting the state.
The singer made the comments when a fan had asked to sing one of her popular songs referring to drinking from the river to which she playfully suggested that it's safer to drink bottled water instead.
";Drinking from the Nile will get me schistosomiasis," she said.
The singer was referring to a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes which penetrate the skin after coming into contact with infested water.
"Drink Evian instead," she joked.
However, lakes in northern Egypt are affected by drainage of polluted water and this affects the diversity of their fish, phytoplank-ton and other micro-organisms.
Nile pollutants are derived from sources such as industrial wastewater, oil pollution, municipal wastewater, agricultural drainage and include natural cyanotoxins.