The Cairo court room was shown a video clip of Terry Jones burning a Koran, to the objection of lawyers. The President of the Court insisted that all the evidence needed to be seen. The trailer of Innocence of Muslims was also shown, along with scenes from riots in Benghazi, Libya against the film. Terry Jones was accused by the court of being "an insult to Islam and a threat to national unity."
Excerpt from AP Report: "Florida-based Terry Jones, another of those sentenced, is the pastor of Dove World Outreach, a church of less than 50 members in Gainesville, Fla., not far from the University of Florida. He has said he was contacted by the filmmaker to promote the film, as well as Morris Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian in the U.S. who posted the video clips on his website, were also among those charged.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Jones said the ruling "shows the true face of Islam" — one that he views as intolerant of dissent and opposed to basic freedoms of speech and religion.
"We can speak out here in America," Jones said. "That freedom means that we criticize government leadership, religion even at times. Islam is not a religion that tolerates any type of criticism."
Death penalty also for 6 Copts in U.S. over anti-Mohammed film
(ANSAmed) - Cairo, November 28 - An Egyptian high court on Wednesday sentenced to death US pastor Terry Jones for burning copies of the Koran.
The same court also demanded the death penalty for six Copts who live in the United States for producing the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims. The court asked for the authorization of the Grand Mufti, as established by Egypt's law.
Another Egyptian Copt who emigrated to the US was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the film which sparked violent protests across the Arab world in September. (ANSAmed)
AFP November 29, 2012 12:30AM
A CAIRO court sentenced seven Egyptian Christians and a controversial US pastor to death in absentia for involvement in a movie that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed, state media said.
The Christian Egyptians, including the film's maker, are all located in the United States and were tried in their absence. The American pastor, Terry Jones, heads a small congregation in Florida.
During the trial, the judges were shown clips of the low-budget film, the Innocence of Muslims, and footage of Muslim protesters in Libya outraged by the film, the official MENA news agency reported.
Egyptian courts usually hand out the maximum punishment - execution in this case for a blasphemy verdict - and send the decision to the state's top Islamic scholar to get his approval, which is always granted.
If the defendants do return to Egypt, they could get a new trial.
The movie, in which Mohammed is depicted as a buffoon and paedophile, sparked fury across the Muslim world. In Libya, Islamists killed the US ambassador Chris Stevens in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi.
