Mahdy, who had previously posed naked on the internet in
protest of Islamist rule in Egypt, said that she does not regret what
she did. (Courtesy: Mahdy)
By Al Arabiya
An Egyptian activist filed a complaint to the general prosecutor calling for the citizenship strip of Egypt’s controversial Alia al-Mahdy, commonly known as the “nude poser,” for protesting naked against the country’s newly-adopted constitution.
The plaintiff, Mahmoud Abdel Rahman, accused Mahdy, who protested naked in front of the Egyptian embassy in Sweden, of tarnishing the image of Egypt and deriding religion. Abdel Rahman also called for placing Mahdy on a watch list so she can be arrested when entering Egypt.
In his charges, Abdel Rahman stated that Mahdy “wrote on her naked body statements condemning the constitution with the help of two female activists from FEMEN, an international women’s rights organization.”
He added that Mahdy then headed to the Egyptian embassy in the Swedish capital Stockholm and the three of them stood there stark naked.
“By standing there naked, she tarnished the image of Egypt and derided religion,” Abdel Rahman wrote in his complaint.
Abdel Rahman also provided the prosecutor with a CD containing a video of the protest.
Mahdy has said she has been receiving death threats since reports of her naked protests spread in Egypt.
“If I go back to Egypt, I will be put in jail and I might be killed if the current regime remains in power,” she told the Egyptian daily independent al-Watan.
Mahdy slammed Egyptian liberals who accused her of undermining their cause and giving Islamists a pretext to lash out at powers that struggle against the establishment of an Islamist-backed constitution.
“They have double standards. They claim they believe in freedom, but they never practice what they preach.”
Regarding the reason for her controversial protest, Mahdy said the new constitution encourages discrimination against women and will pave the way for stripping them of more rights.
Despite fears of arrest and assassination, Mahdy, who was granted political asylum in Sweden, wished to return to Egypt.
“I would like to continue my struggle for freedom from Egypt, but right now I will do so from abroad.”
Mahdy said she plans to write a book about her life and the lives of girls who faced a similar fate.
“I will also launch a project that helps women who are subjected to domestic violence and girls who wish to gain their independence from their families.”
Mahdy, who had previously posed naked on the internet in protest of
Islamist rule in Egypt, said that she does not regret what she did.
“It is not unlikely that I will protest naked again,” she added.
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