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Egyptian teen jailed for posting picture of Prophet Muhammed

Another person learns the hard way that what goes on on Facebook definitely does not stay there.

 

Kevin Collier

IRL

Posted on Apr 4, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 7:00 pm CDT

Citizens of countries run by a religious military: be careful what you share on Facebook.

A 17-year-old teen in Egypt has been sentenced for three years in prison for uploading cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammed and sharing them with his friends.

The teen, Gamal Abdou Massoud, is reportedly Christian and from the city of Assiut, one of the most heavily Christian areas in the majority-Muslim country.

The photos, which he shared back in December, prompted violence, including an angry mob that came to his house.

Depictions of Muhammed are considered highly offensive to many Muslims. When a Danish newspaper cartoonist deliberately drew the prophet in 2006, he received multiple death threats—and has continued to receive them at least as recently as 2010.

Massoud was tried in a juvenile court, but his sentence is the maximum allowed by law.

Photo by FreedomHouse

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*First Published: Apr 4, 2012, 5:27 pm CDT