Sayeda Zeinab Misdemeanour Court reduced on Thursday a three-year prison verdict against writer Fatima Naoot to a suspended six-month sentence for charges of contempt of Islam, state-owned media Al-Ahram reported.

The writer was initially sentenced to three years in prison and a EGP 20,000 fine. This came after a lawsuit was filed against her for posting Facebook comments on animal sacrifice, for which she was accused of mocking religious rituals.

However, in her comments, Naoot didn’t criticise the ritual, but rather unpleasant scenes of slaughtered animals and blood on the streets.

Charges of contempt of religion has raised controversy among freedom defenders who demanded the abolishment of the crime, claiming it is being used to oppress freedom of speech.