Christian sentenced to a year in Egyptian prison for insulting Islam

An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced a Christian man to one year in prison on charges of blasphemy and insulting Islam.

The Misdemeanour Court in the city of Assiut in southern Egypt, found Romani Saad, a Coptic lawyer, guilty of defaming Islam's holy book, the Koran.

The court also ordered him to pay a bail of 500 Egyptian pounds (71.4 dollars) to stay out of jail pending a hearing on an appeal against the verdict.

Saad was not in court when the ruling was issued.

Christians, who account for some 10 per cent of Egypt's 85 million population, are alarmed by the rise of Islamists after president Hosny Mubarak's overthrow more than two years ago.

The number of court cases against Copts accused of blasphemy has increased in recent months.