Death Sentences Upheld for Seven in Egypt over involvement in Blasphemous Movie

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Cairo: A Cairo tribunal on Tuesday upheld death sentences passed on seven Egyptian Coptic Christians in absentia for their involvement in a movie that ridiculed the Holy Prophet [PBUH], a judicial source said.

The accused, including the director of the movie that triggered outrage across the Muslim world when it surfaced last September, are currently living in the USZ.

Terry Jones, an American pastor based in Florida who is said to have promoted the film and who had also been sentenced to death in absentia, had his sentence reduced to five years in jail by the tribunal.

Egyptian courts usually hand out the maximum punishment - execution in this case for a blasphemy verdict - and send the decision to the state’s top Islamic scholar to get his approval.

Tuesday’s confirmation of the sentences occurred after his opinions were taken.

If the defendants do return to Egypt, they could get a new trial, according to legal experts.

• Punishment of Blasphemy in Islam and other Major Religions

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Court in Egypt orders death sentences to blasphemers over anti-Islam film

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Seven Coptic Egyptians living abroad were sentenced to death Wednesday by a court in Cairo for their connection to an inflammatory anti-Islam film, the prosecutor’s office said. The suspects are accused of being involved with the production of the film in California, said Adel Al Saeed, official spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. Since the Egyptian citizens were tried in absentia, the sentence would be applied only if they returned to Egypt. Protests against the “Innocence of Muslims” film erupted in September in many Muslim countries, including Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The amateurish film portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, buffoon, ruthless killer and child molester. Islam categorically forbids any depictions of Mohammed, and blasphemy is an incendiary taboo in the Muslim world. Backed by hardcore anti-Islam groups in the United States, the film sparked outrage after an Arabic translation of the film’s trailer was released online a few weeks before the anniversary of September 11. In Cairo, some protesters scaled the wall of the U.S. Embassy and tore down its American flag, replacing it with a black flag adorned with an emblem used by Islamic radicals. Police and army personnel had to be deployed to prevent demonstrators from advancing on the compound.

The film was also initially implicated in a violent demonstration in Libya that left the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead on September 11. Earlier this month, the Egyptian-American man behind the film was sentenced in California to one year in federal prison after admitting to violating the terms of his probation from a 2010 bank fraud case. The amateur filmmaker, Mark Basseley Youssef, also was ordered to serve four years of supervised release after his prison term. He was identified in initial news accounts in September as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the name used in the bank fraud case.


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‘Blasphemous’ school set alight

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LAHORE – An angry mob went on a rampage and set a girls’ school alight in the Karim Park area early Wednesday to protest against the administration for allegedly distributing pamphlets carrying blasphemous material among the students. The management of the Farooqi Girls High School, situated on the Ravi Road, denied the allegations and termed the shadowy claims a “conspiracy” by their competitors in the business of private schooling. The police had registered a case against a lady teacher, Arfa Iftikhar, but it did not confirm any arrest until late Wednesday night.

“We have registered a case (FIR No 1470/12) against the (alleged) blasphemer (lady teacher) under section 295-C (of the Pakistan Penal Code) for insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH). She has not been arrested yet but the police are raiding to capture her,” said Allah Rakha, the duty officer at Shafiqabad police station, when contacted. The case was registered on the complaint of Abdullah Saqib, a religious cleric of the locality. But there were conflicting reports about what had actually happened. Some protesters told reporters that Arfa had asked her students to write an essay for which she dictated to them some derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and the kids told their parents about the blasphemous material.

But the complaint had a different account of the story. He told the police that the schoolteacher Tuesday morning distributed an examination paper carrying printed derogatory remarks among more than 160 students of class-VI. This claim was contradicted by a local resident, who said he had taken a glance at the said question paper and claimed that it was a just a plain sheet carrying handwritten material in English language rather than anything in printed form.
As the rumour about this contentious, allegedly ‘blasphemous’ paper spread around by late Tuesday night, angry locals converged outside the school building and staged strong protest demonstration against the school management. Later, the police arrived at the scene and managed to disperse the protesters.

Again on Wednesday morning, dozens of area residents gathered outside the school building and chanted slogans against the administration and the teacher. They also forced their entry into the school, ransacked the furniture and set the building alight. Heavy police contingents reached the spot but failed to cool down the angry mob. Eyewitnesses said that the protesters thrashed Asim Farooqi, the school principal, and later handed him over to the police. But police did not confirm the arrest of the principal.

The accused schoolteacher was not present when the police raided her house in Malipura area, police sources said, adding that she had gone into hiding along with her kids. Police raids were underway till filing of this report. Locals said the situation was quite tense in the locality, where reportedly some public representatives too were instigating protests against the management of the school, where hundreds of students are enrolled. The police are deployed around the school to keep the things under control. Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA), has called for constituting an independent commission to probe into what he said ‘sensitive matter.’

According to Section 295-C of the PPC, “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”

The incident has come at a time when the international powers are pressing Islamabad hard to amend the blasphemy law. Javedani demanded the Punjab chief minister to personally look into the matter to ensure justice. He said that Farooqi Girls High School is among the leading institutions imparting girls’ education for the last more than 25 years. The Association president also claimed that the incident was a conspiracy against the school management.

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