Sentenced

Doaa Salah, a presenter on Al-Nahar TV, asked if her viewers had considered having sex before marriage, and also suggested a woman could marry briefly to have children before divorcing.

She was charged and convicted with outraging public decency.

Ms Salah was also ordered to pay 10,000 Egyptian pounds (£430) in compensation.

The authorities said the ideas in the programme "threatened the fabric of Egyptian life", the EFE news agency reports.

Sex before marriage is widely regarded as unacceptable in socially conservative Egypt.

Tualima appeared before Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai for sentencing in the Supreme Court today.

“You are now 23 years old and already you have 20 charges already proven by court and the sentences will conclude in 2027,” said Justice Lesatele.

“And the sentence to be given by the court today will add more years to your already long term punishment and seclusion in prison,” he added.

For the crime of rape itself, Tualima has been sentenced to 18 years.