Egypt arrests Russian dancer over racy video

Police arrested Russian dancer Ekaterina Andreeva after a video of one of her latest shows in Egypt went viral

Authorities in Egypt have arrested a Russian belly dancer for alleged “incitement to debauchery” after a video showing her scantily-dressed went viral, security sources said.

The woman identified as Ekaterina Andreeva and known by her stage name “Gawhara” (jewel in Arabic) will be deported, the sources said.

She is being held in a Cairo police station and should be sent back to Russia on Saturday, they added.

The video, widely shared online, shows her performing a sensual dance in a Cairo club and wearing a revealing lace dress.

Authorities also accused the dancer of not having the proper documents allowing her to work and live in Egypt.

Her lawyer Mohammed Salah denied the accusations against Andreeva in a statement to private Dream television station.

The authorities under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have cracked down on some artists in Egypt using wide-ranging morality laws.

Shyma, a little-known 21-year-old Egyptian, was sentenced to two years in prison in December over a racy music video clip.

She was arrested after appearing in a video showing her in a mock classroom licking an apple and appearing to mimic fellation on a banana in front of a chalkboard scrawled with “Class#69”.

In 2015, a court jailed a female dancer to a year in prison for “inciting debauchery” in a raunchy music video for a song called “Let Go of My Hand”.