Economic Misdemeanor Court in Alexandria convicted Doctor Omnia Suwaidan was sentenced today, July 4, to six months in prison with hard labor, suspended for three years, after she was convicted of spreading false news related to Al-Shatby Hospital at Alexandria University.
The court too imposed A fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (405 US dollars) and obligating Suwaidan to pay legal expenses. She was acquitted of the second charge of using an electronic account to commit the alleged crime, while the related civil case was referred to the competent civil court.
The case arose after social media posts and subsequent media coverage alleged ethical and professional violations at El-Shatby Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with Alexandria University. According to the Public Prosecution, the investigation was opened after the authorities reviewed the circulating allegations and received a complaint from the Director of Legal Affairs at Alexandria University Hospitals, who stated that the hospital had not received any complaints from patients regarding the alleged events.
Prosecutors said a technical examination identified Suwaidan as the owner of the social media account that posted the posts.
During the investigation, Suwaidan admitted to publishing the post under scrutiny. She told the prosecution that she worked at Alexandria University Hospitals during the period of her mandatory medical assignment between 2020 and 2021, including two months in the hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department.
According to Prosecutor Suwaidan He said Given her limited professional experience at the time, she thought some of the medical practices she observed were unusual. She also admitted that parts of the post were based on information reported by others and not her own observations, and that she did not verify these claims before publishing them.
She is male It does not have identifying information about the patients mentioned in the post and cannot identify them. Prosecutors also said she admitted the post attracted increased engagement on her Facebook page.
The Public Prosecution referred Suwaidan to trial on two charges: spreading false news over an information network in a way considered to disrupt public order, and using an electronic account to commit that crime. The court convicted her on the first charge and acquitted her on the second.
The suspended sentence means that Suwaidan will not serve the six-month prison sentence unless she commits another crime during the three-year suspension period, taking into account applicable legal provisions.