I'm not sure how to write this article, so i'm just going to post it as reported.
Report
Muslims across the Middle East outraged by an anti-Islam film made in the US wanted swift
punishment for the man behind the movie, and now Mark Basseley Youssef is behind bars.
But he's jailed for lying about his identity, not because of the video's content.
Court documents show Youssef, 55, legally changed his name from Nakoula Basseley Nakoula in 2002 but never told federal authorities, who now are using that as part of the probation violation case against him.
Youssef was refused bail on Thursday and is to remain in jail until a hearing is held to determine if he violated terms of his supervised release on a 2010 bank fraud conviction.
Advertisement Prosecutors allege he used multiple aliases and lied to his probation officers about his real name.
Youssef, an Egyptian-born Christian who's now a US citizen, sought to obtain a passport in his new name but still had a California driver's licence as Nakoula, assistant US Attorney Robert Dugdale said on Friday. Youssef used a third name, Sam Bacile, in association with the 14-minute trailer for the movie Innocence of Muslims that was posted on YouTube.
It portrays the prophet Muhammad as a religious fraud, womaniser and paedophile.
Angry protests sparked by the film broke out September 11 in Egypt and Libya and the violence has spread, killing dozens. Enraged Muslims demanded punishment for Youssef, and a Pakistani cabinet minister has offered a $US100,000 ($96,180) bounty to anyone who kills him.
Youssef went into hiding on September 15 and his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos was put up for sale.
He was arrested on Thursday and appeared that afternoon for a proceeding in a courtroom that was opened only to lawyers and his family.
A feed was provided to the media in a different building.
Afterwards, Youssef was whisked away to a federal detention centre in Los Angeles where he'll stay until the hearing.
The case isn't about Youssef's constitutional right to make a controversial film. Rather, Dugdale said, it's about his failure to live up to his obligation to be truthful with federal authorities.
"The fact that he wasn't using his true name with probation, that's where the problem is," said Dugdale, who noted federal authorities now will refer to Nakoula as Youssef.
A constitutional law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, Adam Winkler, said the decision by US Central District chief magistrate Suzanne Segal to order Youssef held without bail is supported by the evidence.
"He has numerous different aliases and numerous government documents with different names on them and that's exactly the kind of person that judges want to be extra careful with," Winkler said.
"This is not an end-run around constitutional protections. Those are major red flags in any case and even if this was a low-profile case and the same facts had come out, this person would be denied bond."
Given the threats against him, Youssef has the motive to flee, even if there's an arrest warrant for him in his native Egypt and a call for his head in Pakistan, said Olu Orange, a former public defender and an adjunct professor in the University of Southern California's political science department.
"He has the means to leave, as well as the inclination and the know-how. I don't see him as not being a flight risk," Orange said.
Youssef's lawyer, Steven Seiden, has not replied to multiple requests for comment via letter, email and voicemail.
In court on Thursday, he sought to have the hearing closed and his client released on $US10,000 bail.
Seiden argued that Youssef has checked in with his probation officer frequently and made no attempts to leave Southern California.
A hearing will be scheduled to determine if Youssef violated his probation.
Prosecutors also said he could face new charges, although they provided no details other than to say they could carry a two-year prison sentence.
- AP
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