Nigerian atheist jailed for blasphemy over Facebook posts

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian court has sentenced an atheist to 24 years in prison for making social media posts it found to be blasphemous against the Islamic religion in the West African nation’s northern region. Mubarak Bala, an ex-Muslim, was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of blasphemy. The sentence was the climax of a lengthy trial during which he spent nearly two years in prison. Prosecutors in the northern Kano state, which is predominantly Muslim, accused Bala of making Facebook posts that insulted the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam and attempted to “cause a breach of the public peace.”