Egyptian teen given 3 years in jail for posting pictures of Muhammed on Facebook

Back in January I shared with you the story of 17-year old Gamal Abdou Massoud, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail for posting images of Muhammed on Facebook.

He has now been sentenced to 3 years in jail:

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 [more].

Teenager sentenced to 15 days in jail and Christian homes burned after Facebook images of Muhammed

After images of the Prophet Muhammed were posted on his Facebook page, an Egyptian teenager has been sentenced to fifteen days in jail, even though Gamal Masoud, a Coptic Christian, may not even have been aware the images were posted.

Massoud, 17, could be charged with "contempt of Islam" because the images may offend Muslims.

Angered over the images, a group of Muslims burned down Christian homes while chanting "Allahu akbar" until they were stopped by security and military forces.  Fearful of further violence, many Christians have fled.