Egypt sentences 4 Coptic teenagers for contempt of Islam

An Egyptian court convicts four Coptic Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam, after they appeared in a video mocking Muslim prayers, sentencing three of them to five years in prison and referring a fourth, who is under 18, to a juvenile detention facility.

The harsh ruling — which has followed a surge of blasphemy cases in Egyptian courts — underscores a culture of intolerance within the country’s judicial system at a time when the Egyptian president is seeking to position himself as an advocate for religious reform.

The teenagers’ lawyer, Maher Naguib, says his clients, who are high school students in the southern province of Minya, haven’t been detained and didn’t appear in court for the trial.

He describes the ruling as “unbelievable” and says the judge should have just punished the teenagers with a fine.

The video was filmed by the students’ teacher, who is also a Christian, and who was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Islam in a separate trial.

The 30-second video showed the students pretending to pray, with one kneeling on the floor while reciting verses and two others standing behind him and laughing. One waved his hand under a second’s neck in a sign of beheading.

— AP