Egypt Authorities Probe Activist Over Nude Stockholm Protest

Egyptian authorities opened an investigation into a blogger and activist who stripped naked outside Egypt’s embassy in Stockholm to protest an Islamist- drafted constitution passed in a referendum last month.

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, who now lives in Sweden, staged a nude demonstration along with members of the Femen feminist group. She faces charges of “committing immoral acts” and “insulting religion,” state-run Ahram gate website reported today.

Elmahdy, 21, who last year sparked controversy after posting nude pictures of herself online, posed naked along with two other activists with “Sharia is not a constitution” painted on her body, while holding banners stating “No religion” and “Religion is slavery”.

Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi and his Islamist backers clashed in the weeks preceding the passage of the constitution, which was approved by a majority of 64 percent in a two-stage referendum.

To contact the reporter on this story: Salma El Wardany in Cairo at selwardany@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net