The Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression condemned the court ruling issued last Thursday sentencing Mohamed Fahmy Asfour to six years in prison and a fine of EGP100,000 after being accused of spreading Shia thought in Egypt and speaking disrespectfully of al-Sayeda Aisha, the youngest of the Prophet Mohamed’s wives
The Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression condemned the court ruling issued last Thursday sentencing Mohamed Fahmy Asfour to six years in prison and a fine of EGP100,000 after being accused of spreading Shia thought in Egypt and speaking disrespectfully of al-Sayeda Aisha, the youngest of the Prophet Mohamed’s wives.
The story goes back to last June when the villagers of the Delta town of Kafr al-Zayat mobbed against Asfour and dismissed him from the village mosque. The mosque imam was joined by two other of the Muslim townsmen in submitting an official complaint against Asfour, accusing him of being a Shiite, insulting Sayeda Aisha, and inflaming sedition between the villagers.
“The Asfour incident is not the first of its kind,” the association said. “Last May a Coptic student was sentenced to three years in prison because he was accused of insulting Prophet Mohamed on facebook.
“All this represents serious concerns against minorities in Egypt. The Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression totally rejects rulings of the kind, and sees in them infringement against freedom of expression and belief.”
WATANI International
3 August 2012
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