The Misdemeanours Court of Nasr City decided today to turn down the appeal by the Islamist preacher Ahmed Abdalla—commonly known as Abu-Islam—and his son, on charges of disdaining Christianity. The court backed up the ruling it had previously issued against them, but reduced it to a five-year sentence.
Both Abu-Islam and his son had been convicted last June for tearing and burning a copy of the Holy Bible in front of the US embassy in Cairo during riots that had erupted in September 2012 against a US-produced film that was deemed insulting to Islam. Back in June the court had sentenced Abu-Islam and his son to eleven and eight years in prison respectively, and had set a EGP3,000 bail for Abu Islam and EGP2,000, for his son.
Watani International
17 December 2013