An appeals court on Wednesday rejected blogger Alber Saber’s appeal against his three-year prison sentence for contempt of religion, upholding the controversial court ruling.
Saber, a 27-year-old computer programming student from Cairo, faced charges of defaming both Islam and Christianity.
Marg Misdemeanor Court found Saber guilty of “contempt of religion” on 12 December, after he allegedly posted segments online of the amateur film “Innocence of Muslims,” which had sparked protests around the Muslim world, state news agency MENA reported.
Saber attended the court session. His defense asked for the court’s ruling to be canceled, saying the prosecution’s did not have valid permission to search his residence and citing the lack of investigation by the prosecution. He demanded that his client be pronounced not guilty.
Security forces arrested Saber in September after a mob surrounded his house, accusing him of ripping up the Quran and publishing anti-Islamic content online.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
