Egyptian sentenced to 3 years in prison for Facebook posts
22nd October 2011 by Nancy Messieh
Ayman Yousef Mansour has become the second Egyptian, since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak, to be sentenced to 3 years in jail for online self-expression.
Unlike Maikel Nabil whose three year sentence was for a blog post deemed insulting to the military, Mansour’s crime took place on Facebook, and has been deemed insulting to Islam.
According to the official MENA news agency, Mansour was tried in a criminal court, and his ruling stated that he “intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule on Facebook.” While it remains unclear exactly what the posts contained, Egyptian daily, Al Masry Al Youm reported that the court stated that the posts on the Facebook page threatened national unity.
Police tracked Mansour online, arresting him in August, and today, the court found him to be “in contempt of religion, ” a charge which can lead to a sentencing of anywhere from six months to five years in prison.
Speaking about the charge, Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch told AP, that it ”is a very vague provision, and it has long been the recommendation of human rights groups to remove that provision.”
This is not the first time an Egyptian has been jailed for insulting Islam. Under Mubarak’s rule, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was sentenced to 4 years in prison for insulting both Islam and the former president. He was released in November 2010. Amer disappeared briefly during the uprising that took place at the beginning of this year, only to be released a few days later.
Egyptian man sentenced to 3 years in jail for blasphemy
October 24, 2011
As you might recall, in late August I wrote that Egyptian police had arrested 23-year-old Ayman Yusef Mansur for "insulting Islam" in postings on his Facebook wall. Last week, the case came to an unfortunate close when a court convicted and sentenced Mansur to three years in prison, with hard labor, according to the news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The AFP reported via the Middle Eastern News Agency (MENA) that Mansur was found guilty because he "intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule on Facebook." MENA did not disclose what he allegedly said, but Mansur's postings apparently "aimed at the Noble Koran, the true Islamic religion, the Prophet of Islam and his family and Muslims, in a scurrilous manner."
Egypt's blasphemy law is often used to silence religious minorities (think Shiite Muslims and Christians), religious dissidents, and secularists. For instance, in 2007 an atheist blogger received a four-year prison term for insulting the Muslim prophet and former president Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian lawmakers will decide on a new constitution after this winter's election, but the blasphemy provision will likely remain in place. Strongly Islamic candidates, who would leave in place previous language stating that Islam is the country's main source of legislation, are expected to perform well in the election. Even if secular candidates win a fair share of seats, the topic is considered by most too controversial for secularists to openly challenge.
It's worth noting that the UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned blasphemy laws and other restrictions on freedom of belief and expression as inconsistent with existing international law.
One can only hope Egyptians were listening.