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Egyptian Courts Sentence Christian Blogger to 3 Years in Prison for Sharing Infamous Anti-Islam YouTube Vid
(Photo: Facebook via the Huffington Post)
(TheBlaze/AP) — A Cairo court on Wednesday convicted a Coptic Christian blogger who shared an anti-Islam film on social networking sites, sentencing him to three years in prison for blasphemy and contempt of religion.
The case of Alber Saber is one of several seen by rights advocates as a campaign led by Egypt’s ultraconservative Islamists to curb free expression. Many of those targeted in the campaign are Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 85 million.
Saber was arrested Sept. 13, after neighbors complained he had shared on Facebook the amateur film made in the United States that sparked protests across the Muslim world. His arrest came during a wave of public outrage over the film, produced by an Egyptian-American Copt.
At the time, an angry mob surrounded Saber’s house, calling for his death and accusing him of heresy, atheism and of promoting the “Innocence of Muslims” – the short film that portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, womanizer and buffoon.
TheBlaze’s Billy Hallowell reported on the attack, posting this video:
Saber’s verdict comes as Egypt has been plunged into a political crisis over a draft constitution. Islamist supporters say the charter is a step toward stability, while critics warn it will open the door to increased suppression of freedom in the name of religion.
In announcing the verdict, the court in Cairo said Saber can be released on a bail pending his appeal.
Amnesty International condemned the verdict and said it considered Saber “a prisoner of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.” The London-based group also demanded Saber be freed immediately and that all charges against him be dropped.
“This is an outrageous verdict and sentence for a person whose only `crime’ was to post his opinions online,” said Amnesty’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
“The court should have thrown the case out on the first day, yet now he’s been branded as having insulted religion,” added Sahraoui, deputy chief of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program.
Last month, another Egyptian court convicted in absentia seven other Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to the “Innocence of Muslims.”
The charges were largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are all outside Egypt and are thus unlikely to ever face the sentence. The man behind the anti-Islam film, Mark Basseley Youssef, was among those convicted. He was sentenced in a California court in November to one year in federal prison for probation violations in an unrelated matter.
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ddo2012
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 4:08pmIt won’t be long before this will be happening here in the US.
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Satellite309
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:35pm***********WARNING FROM FBI AGENT****************
A group known by the name “the Muslim Brotherhood” has infiltrated into the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and the Democratic Party. They have been threatening and blackmailing people at the highest levels of our government, including members of congress, the former head of the CIA, and quite even possibly have threatened the Clintons. Hillary Clinton is now set to testify in open session on Benghazi on December 20, 2012, at 1pm.
Agents believe the Muslim Brotherhood is here to take over our country and every country surrounding Israel. The FBI believes Eric Holder helped lay the groundwork for severe fraud in the 2012 election by challenging voter ID laws in various states (FBI also told me that Obama won in every single one of those states).
The FBI has informed me that they can do nothing to stop this. I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO TELL YOU THAT IT IS UP TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO CONTACT THEIR REPRESENTATIVES
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nzkiwi
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 5:04amDo you have any links for that? Or verification?
I’m not questioning for integrity, but I would like to dig deeper into into it.
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nzkiwi
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 5:22am*your
your integrity
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Margyt
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:25pmI’m confused. There were riots all over the muslim world on and shortly after 9-11-12. How did all those people get fired up if the video wasn’t in circulation? Or was this guy solely responsible for posting the blasted thing? I got the impression that the muslim powers-that-be wanted everyone to know about the video. Guess I got it wrong.
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nzkiwi
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 5:21amNo, you didn’t get it wrong, you just missed the political sleight-of-hand.
It was politically expedient for the Obama administration to blame the Benghazi tragedy on the anti-muslim video. This was to hide the real cause of these murders (about which we are still waiting to hear), and to distract people from the important questions, for example; who issued the stand-down order, and why.
The fact that almost nobody had seen it is irrelevent. The muslim useful idiots were told to attend demonstrations against it, in order to confer credibility to the lie, and they dutifully complied.
The trouble is that the video is so amatuerish and idiotic that it would be hard for anybody to be offended, as opposed to just laughing at it – and whichever idiot put a supposed $5 million into it. Also, if it is bad enough to cause these demonstrations, then obviously it must be bad enough to ban, and to prosecute those who share it.
Otherwise the exercise begins to look like a put-up job. A sham. A complete fraud…
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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:24pmCall him a Christian and throw him in a prison = Death sentence. Anyone who doesn’t participate in dismembering the guy = death sentence as well. Call it what it is.
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AlBundy
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:57pmSounds like the union protesters in Michigan…..
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XPat
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 8:42pmI’m sure Obama and his Muslim loving, camel schtooping associates are as offended as they’ve never been.
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Tri-ox
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:27pm@CANADAROCKS – Geez – where have been for the past couple of months? Did you really miss the entire “Innocence of muslims” video / Benghazi issue and obama and Rice’s ridiculous lies?
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DIgnified
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:23pm/yawn slow pseudo-news day.
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cdn1979
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:16pmthe law is the law. you break it, you pay the price.they will kill a rapist, while the usa will try and rehabilitate one. no system is perfect. if you know something is wrong, don’t do it. they know they don’t have freedom. its the way the country is run. its a crappy problem, but its there problem. last i heard there are problems on this side of the pond that people should focus on.
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DIgnified
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:25pmCommon sense post. Nice. Rare in these parts.
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ashestoashes
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:23pmExcuse me..but when a muslim man’s daughters are raped..it’s not the rapist that he kills..it is his daughters that are killed..because they cannot live with such a disgrace…I understand that Muslim men sodomize their little boys..some right of passage..and they marry 5 year old girls and are known to consumate the marriage when the child turns nine..People of great loyalty and faith to Mahamad. and to Allah..they are..people of great moral fabric..well..lets just say that they do not have the morality that the most great and high God expects of us..
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ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 6:36pmGood thing he isn’t gay. Or they would have strung him up on a crane or a pyramid already.
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DIgnified
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:24pmA gay christian? Is that like a skinny fat chick? Or military intelligence?
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jessieH
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 6:19pmSee what Osama Obama has caused? He not only let four Americans get murdered in Bengazi, he got this guy 3 years in prison. All because he opened his big mouth & falsely blamed a stupid video for his incompetence. Clinton is just as much to blame.
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barber2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:33pmAgree. The Obama Administration did more to publicize this video than any one else. Wonder what their motivation was ?
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Secret Squirrel
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:54pmIt’s Egypt.
Run by the muslim brotherhood.
What do you expect? Freedom?
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The_Jerk
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:59pmNot our problem. Egypt sucks. We know that. They all suck. Stay out.
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Dismayed Veteran
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:54pmDead man walking.
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CanadaRocks
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:54pmMuch like the dumbass american a few years ago getting caned for vandalism in singapore. You know what os going on there. Dont be a dumbass. You live in a muslim country with laws about things like this. I have a hard time feeling sorry for stupid people. Different country. Different laws. He lives there and should be smart enough to know the penalty. Christianity isnt the law o the land there. Everyone knows that.
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superduper
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:21pmSo why do we support these country’s and give them financial aid? All we are doing is empowering them and rewarding them and eventually they will come for us.
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barber2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:42pmSUPER: Agree. Our Democrats are like the girl who rescued a rattlesnake only to be shocked when it recovered and then bit her. Duh.
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Keatonc33
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:41pmLaw is Law….
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Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:33pmThis is Obama’s Democracy.
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Cavallo
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:26pmWhy not? Obama threw the guy who made it into jail, why would the Egyptians be anymore merciful?
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Keatonc33
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:40pmThe guy violated his probation…
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barber2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:39pmCAVALLO: Interesting that the so-called video maker disappeared faster than the Aurora shooter. No trial by the Lefty Lap Dog media like they did for Zimmerman or Murdoch . Wonder why ?
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Landon410
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:24pmthey are all just about peace and loce, unless you disagree then its prision, beatings, torture, children beheading you etc
peace and love….
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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:24pm3 Years my ass. They’ll behead him. Radical Islam doesn’t do jail time. Adios.
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Tri-ox
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:23pmPathological liar Susan Rice and obama are very pleased by this ruling, no doubt.
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CanadaRocks
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:55pmWhy would they be pleased with this? Better hurry up. I think the short yellow bus is waiting for you.
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Keatonc33
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:35pmman Canada does rock!
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GuruMeditation
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 6:10pmeh?
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barber2
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:37pmTRI-OZ: Rice caused trouble in Africa under Clinton ! She has a proven track record of trouble. Gee, why do you suppose Obama appointed here ?
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