An Egyptian court on Jan. 29 upheld the in absentia death sentences of seven Coptic Christians and an American preacher on charges stemming from the amateur anti-Muslim "film" Innocence of Muslims, which sparked violent protests in the Middle East last year. A criminal court in Cairo sentenced the convicted defendants in November, pending the final verdict just announced. The death sentences are primarily symbolic, as all of the defendants live outside of Egypt. The eight defendants include Mark Basseley Youssef, the California man who produced the film, as well as Florida pastor Terry Jones, who aroused controversy last year by publicly burning a Koran. The film depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud and a womanizer. The court found the defendants guilty of subverting national unity, spreading false information and insulting Islam, charges that carry the death penalty.

Fathi Shihab-Eddim, a senior aide to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi responsible for appointing the editors of all state-run newspapers, marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day in his own charming way. Fox News of course trumpeted his comments with undisguised glee: "The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented. US intelligence agencies in cooperation with their counterparts in allied nations during World War II created [the Holocaust] to destroy the image of their opponents in Germany, and to justify war and massive destruction against military and civilian facilities of the Axis powers, and especially to hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bomb." The standard right-wing, Islamohpbic and Zionist websites waste no time in jumping all over it: Answering Muslims, Breitbart, Homeland Security Newswire, Human Events, Washington Times, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Algemeiner (mysteriously misplacing the date of the comments by three years), etc. The usual leftist and anti-Zionist sites, meanwhile, are completely silent. What is wrong with this picture? Quite a lot.

Police clashed with protesters in Cairo Jan. 24, eve of the the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. Demonstraors calling for the fall of  President Mohamed Morsi tried to dismantle a concrete security barrier that blocked a street leading to Tahrir Square, focal point of protest movement that broke out on Jan. 25, 2010 and led to Mubarak's resignation 18 days later. The walls were erected last year to protect government buildings in the area. The National Salvation Front opposition bloc has called for rallies "in all the Tahrir Squares of the country." (Middle East Online, Jan. 24)

A Saudi Arabian court on Jan. 15 convicted prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi of smuggling drugs. Despite requests from Saudi prosecutors for the death penalty, el-Gezawi was given a sentence of five years imprisonment and 300 lashes. El-Gezawi's arrest in April 2012 sparked protests outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo by those who believe the activist was arrested for insulting King Abdullah, leading Saudi Arabia to close its embassy in Egypt for a week. Saudi authorities maintain that he was arrested for attempting to smuggle 20,000 anti-anxiety pills into the country. El-Gezawi had previously filed lawsuits on behalf of 34 Egyptians who were detained in Saudi Arabia without a stated reason. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) denounced the decision as a political sentence that violates principles of freedom of expression.

Two Egyptians were killed and two injured in an apparent attack on a Coptic church near the Libyan city of Misrata Dec. 30. "Unknown assailants targeted a church building in the town of Dafniya, in Misrata [province], causing the death of two Egyptian citizens and wounding two others," official news agency LANA reported. "The explosion happened after the mass ended and people were on their way out." There were an estimated 1.5 million Egyptians living and working in Libya before the 2011 revolution. About two-thirds left during the war but many returned in 2012.

President Mohammed Morsi signed Egypt's new constitution (PDF) into law late Dec. 25, which was supported by over 63% of those who voted in the referendum. However, only 32.9% of Egypt's total of 52 million voters actually participated in the referendum, leading many to debate its results. Egyptian press and commentators are divided over the approval of the new constitution, with some declaring the results to be "fake", and supporters from the Muslim Brotherhood claiming it to be the valid choice of the people. Immediately after the referendum, a coalition of Egyptian rights group called for a redo of the referendum, alleging widespread irregularities.

The Egyptian opposition on Dec. 23 said it will appeal the referendum that appears to have voted in a new constitution backed by ruling Islamic parties. The opposition has alleged the vote was marred by fraud and irregularities, while the Muslim Brotherhood, the main supporters of the new constitution, claim the referendum has passed with 64% "yes" votes. Official results have not been released yet and are expected on Monday, Dec. 24. The National Salvation Front, the main opposition group, composed of united factions of liberals, socialists and others, had campaigned heavily for the rejection of the referendum.

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Dec. 2 indefinitely halted its operations amid pressure from protestors aiming to block the judges from meeting to rule on the validity of the country's new constitution (PDF). Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi flooded the court, blocking the judges from entering and forcing them to delay hearing a case that would permit them to dissolve the constituent assembly that drafted the new constitution. The constitution was hurriedly approved Nov. 28 in anticipation of the scheduled hearing. On the day after the approval, Morsi set Dec. 15 for a referendum on the new constitution. Tens of thousands of moderate and conservative Islamists gathered around Cairo University in support for the constitution, cheering as Morsi announced the referendum. However, tens of thousands of liberal and secular protesters, who have been protesting Morsi for over a week after he issued a decree vastly expanding his powers, objected to the constitution-writing assembly, stating that the body was unrepresentative after liberal, secular and Christian members had left. Such protesters are calling for Morsi to abandon his decree and begin the constitution drafting process anew, but Morsi dismissed the idea of drafting a new constitution. Mass protests have been scheduled for this week.