Alber Saber Ayad ( ar, ألبير صابر عياد,‎ , also spelled ''

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

''; born c. 1985) is an Egyptian computer science student and blogger who was arrested on 13 September 2012 on allegations of having shared the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

trailer for the anti-Islam film ''

Innocence of Muslims ''Innocence of Muslims'' is an anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, under the titles "The Real Life of Muhammad" and "Muhamm ...

'' on his

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page. While he was raised in a

Coptic Christian Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are ...

family, he is now an atheist.

Arrest

On 11 September 2012, a large protest took place at the US Embassy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

against ''

'', which had been created by an Egyptian Coptic Christian living in the US. On 12 September, Alber Saber's home was surrounded by a crowd calling for his death for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

. The crowd attempted to break down the door, and also threatened to burn down the house. Saber's mother called the police for protection, and Saber was arrested by them the following day. Saber later stated that a police officer incited other prisoners to attack him in detention; he was beaten and cut on the neck with a razor. According to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, Saber's home, where his mother and sister also live, continues to be the scene of angry protests. Police confiscated Saber's computer, but found no evidence that he had uploaded the video in question. Instead, Saber was charged with "defamation of Islam and Christianity, insulting the divine and satirizing religious rituals and sanctities and the prophets under articles 98, 160 and 161 of the Egyptian Penal Code", with a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment. The prosecution stated that Saber had "promoted his extremist thoughts in speech and writings by creating web pages, including he'Crazy dictator' and 'Egyptian atheists'

ages Ages may refer to: *Advanced glycation end-products, known as AGEs *Ages, Kentucky, census-designated place, United States * ''Ages'' (album) by German electronic musician Edgar Froese *The geologic time scale, a system of chronological measuremen ...

" In a hearing on Saber's initial detention, a prosecutor told the court that Saber had insulted

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

, and "God himself." Saber's lawyers stated that Saber did not post the video and is innocent of the charges. One of his lawyers described the case as simply "a way to defuse the people's anger".

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

described the case as raising "concerns over freedom of expression". The case also drew protest from several NGOs. Amnesty International designated Saber a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression", and called for his protection and immediate release.

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

condemned the arrest as "censorship". Eight human rights organizations filed a complaint on Saber's behalf demanding that his torture allegations be investigated.

Trial and sentence

On 12 December 2012, Saber was found guilty and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He was allowed to appeal if he first paid $167 bail. Though the bail was paid, police returned him to prison. Amnesty International condemned the sentence as "an outrageous assault on freedom of expression".

Appeal and flight from Egypt

On 26 January 2013, Saber was released for an appeal session and subsequently left Egypt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saber, Alber 1980s births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Egyptian bloggers Egyptian people of Coptic descent Egyptian former Christians Egyptian atheists People prosecuted for blasphemy Egyptian prisoners and detainees Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Egypt Critics of Islam Anti-Islam sentiment in Switzerland