Here’s another absolutely sick example of a country that crushes freedom of speech in the name of religion. Unsurprisingly, it’s Egypt, which has sentenced a 17 year old man to three years in prison for a Facebook posting that mad fun of Muhammad.
An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that sparked sectarian violence.
Gamal Abdou Massoud was also accused of distributing some of his cartoons to his school friends in a village in the southern city of Assiut, home to a large Christian population and the hometown of the late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda.
“Assiut child’s court ordered the jailing of Gamal Abdou Massoud … for three years after he insulted Islam and published and distributed pictures that insulted Islam and its Prophet,” the court said in a statement seen by Reuters.
The cartoons, published by Massoud in December, prompted some Muslims to attack Christians. Several Christian houses were burned and several Christians were injured in the violence.
The people who think they have the right to burn down houses and commit violence because someone dared to insult their religion are the ones the government should be putting in prison.
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heddle
April 10, 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Did Egypt go from bad to worse, bad to just as bad, or bad to nearly as bad? Those seem to be the only options.
slc1
April 10, 2012 at 11:51 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re heddle @ #1
The lamestream media, which has been dancing in the aisles over the overthrow of Mubarak, has been either ignoring the takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood or has been whitewashing this terrorist organization.
http://www.tnr.com/article/world/102413/muslim-brotherhood-egypt-arab-spring-election
Who Knows?
April 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Three years? Isn’t the kid lucky not to get stoned to death?
Trebuchet
April 10, 2012 at 12:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Meanwhile, there are more than a few constitution-lovin’ Christians (using the term loosely!) in the USofA who’d love to see even harsher sentences handed down for making fun of JC.
harold
April 10, 2012 at 12:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The sovereign state of Egypt certainly has some appalling domestic policies. No doubt this life-ruining sentence puts this individual in grave physical danger.
Valid methods of displaying disapproval would include 1) assuring that the US does not allow similar official or unofficial policy to develop here, 2) private boycott of Egyptian tourism and other Egyptian exports by those who feel strongly and 3) arguably, official economic sanctions (unlikely from the US, given that Egypt is a major recipient of US aid).
Needless to say, any suggestion that Egypt should be bombed or invaded in order to force them to adopt the same domestic policies that we prefer would be absurd, and would advocate inhumane policies that violate international law.
d cwilson
April 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The thing that kills me is, just like the riots sparked by the burning of Korans in Afghanistan, the rioters always seem to attack people who had nothing to do with the initial outrage.
slc1
April 10, 2012 at 2:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Another revelation as to what the Muslim Brotherhood has in store for Egypt, which won’t be covered in the lamestream media.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=265583
d cwilson
April 10, 2012 at 2:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Lamestream media?
slc1 is Sarah Palin!
slc1
April 10, 2012 at 2:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re d Cwilson @ #8
Not hardly, wrong sex for openers.
slc1
April 10, 2012 at 2:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re d cwilson @ #8
Actually, I think that Ms. Palin stole that from a leftist commentator.
Modusoperandi
April 10, 2012 at 3:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
At the trial he was all like, “Damn, yo! That Muhammad is mad fun!”. And he was sentenced to breakdancing.