Egyptian celebrity Al Soghayar sentenced to 3 years in jail in drug case

The entertainer was arrested at Cairo airport upon arriving from US

Cairo: Celebrated Egyptian folk singer Saad Al Soghayar was handed down three years in prison on charges of drug possession, legal sources said.

The Cairo criminal court also ordered the 54-year-old entertainer to pay a fine of 30,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh2,20) in the same case related to possessing electronic cigarettes containing narcotic substances, the sources added.

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The ruling, issued on Monday, can be appealed in a 40-day limit, they said.

In September, Al Soghayar was arrested at Cairo airport upon his arrival from the US via Doha after customs officers found in his luggage narcotic substances classified as drugs. He was in the US to perform at a concert.

Egyptian prosecutors referred him to the criminal court on charges of possessing and taking drugs including hashish and Tramadol, which is banned in Egypt for its addictive nature.

Public prosecution said that in investigating the case, prosecutors had questioned three customs workers at the Cairo airport, who testified that while checking the singer's bags, a screening machine showed the presence of electronic cigarettes containing a narcotic liquid.

A lab report confirmed that the cigarettes had contained a liquid essence of hashish. The singer also underwent a drug test that proved the presence of hashish and Tramadol essences.

During his closely followed trial, Al Soghayar denied drug taking, contending he had taken Tramadol for medical reasons.

Born in the Cairo quarter of Shubra in 1970, Al Soghayar rose to fame in the early 2000 with a series of songs that achieved wide popularity. The balladeer performed in several musical films that proved commercially successful. He has also hosted several TV entertainment shows.