That’s the US democracy and Justice system
Muslim Students are found guilty of conspiring and disrupting a speech by the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Press TV reports, with charges being filed over a year after incident.
On Friday, an Orange County, California, jury has found guilty 10 of the “Irvine 11” students on misdemeanor charges of disrupting and conspiring to disrupt a public meeting.
The judge has sentenced the students to 56 hours of community service and 3 years of probation.
An eleventh student is to have his case dismissed on the condition that he completes community service.
Activists have said that this case went to trial only because the defendants are Muslim students who were protesting the visit of an Israeli ambassador.
“America, in general, and Orange County, in particular, must take notice of the growing malaise of Islamophobia,” said Shakeel Syed, the executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.
The “Irvine 11” plan to go through the appeals process until they reach what they call a just verdict.
The students have already been penalized by the University, with supporters saying further punishment is unwarranted.
The students were arrested for disrupting a speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren on the University of Irvine campus in February 2010.
The charges were filed more than a year after Oren delivered his speech.
