Egypt pop star Sherine receives six-month prison sentence

She was convicted of having spread 'false news'

Egyptian pop star Sherine performs at the 2016 Mawazine Festival in Morocco. Courtesy Wahid Tajani

An Egyptian court sentenced pop star Sherine to six months in prison on Tuesday for suggesting that drinking from the Nile River leads to illness, although she will remain free pending an appeal.

Sherine Abdel Wahab, known simply as Sherine, had apologised after being caught on tape joking with concert goers that Nile water could give them parasites.

The Cairo misdemeanour court convicted her of having spread "false news". Judicial officials said she would remain free on bail pending an appeal.

Sherine is also an actor and hosted the Arabic version of The Voice.

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In the video recording of the concert, Sherine is asked by a fan to sing her tune Have You Ever Drunk From the Nile.

She responds that drinking from the river could cause "bilharzia", a name for the parasitic disease schistosomiasis which was once widespread in Egypt.

"Drink Evian instead," she joked.

She later apologised in a Facebook post.