Egyptian sentenced to 3 years for insulting Islam

Egypt’s state media says a Cairo court has sentenced a man to three years in prison for postings on Facebook deemed to be inciting sectarianism and in contempt of Islam. The MENA state news agency said Saturday a the misdemeanor court found Ayman Mansour had intentionally mocked Islam and used “outrageous and scurrilous” language in describing the religion’s holy book, the Qur’an, and its prophet and believers. The court said freedom of belief doesn’t excuse contempt that may offend believers and “subject the regime and the country’s security to serious dangers.” Egypt is grappling with an increasingly assertive ultraconservative Islamist trend, and recent clashes between the military police and Coptic Christians have heightened fears of increasing sectarian strife.