Cairo: Bahrain’s top court has upheld a one-year jail sentence against a preacher convicted of lampooning Islam’s seventh century orthodox caliphs, who ruled after the death of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), a media report said Tuesday.
The ruling, which is now final, was earlier issued by a criminal court after investigations proved that the defendant had given a sermon in a place of worship where he lampooned the orthodox caliphs and the Prophet’s companions, Bahrain’s newspaper Akhbar Al Khaleej reported.
The man was arrested and put on court trial after investigations during which he had faced proof of his involvement in the defamation incident.
In making its case, the prosecution confirmed that freedom of opinion and expression is enshrined in Bahrain’s constitution and law, provided this freedom does not infringe religion, its precepts and symbols or stirs discord and sectarianism, according to the report.
The exact date and place of the offence were not given.
