UP law professor to show anti-Islam film

Atty. Harry L. Roque Jr.

MANILA, Philippines—A law professor at the University of the Philippines is holding a screening of the trailer of “Innocence of Muslims” , an anti-Islam film that has ignited violence across the Middle East.

Harry Roque Jr., director of the Institute of International Legal Studies at the UP Law Center, said the film would be shown Friday in his Bill of Rights class at UP’s Malcolm Hall in Diliman, Quezon City.

“For security reasons, it will no longer be held at the Malcolm Theater,” Roque said on his Facebook post Thursday, adding that “admission into the classroom is on a first come basis.”

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Cerritos, California man and self-described Coptic Christian, made “Innocence of Muslims,” a crudely produced film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, philanderer and child molester.

A 14-minute trailer for the film posted on YouTube sparked violence in the Middle East and other Islamic states, including an attack in Libya in which a US ambassador was killed.

Bahrain protesters used Twitter to organize demonstrations that included burning American flags in the nation that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. Pakistan’s conservative Islamist parties sent out text messages, mosque announcements and made phone calls to bring out protest crowds, including about 1,000 people in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday and hundreds who rushed the US consulate in Karachi, sparking clashes with police in which one demonstrator was killed.

YouTube has blocked access to the video in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt following violence there, and in Indonesia and India because it says the video broke laws in those countries.

In the Philippines, Malacañang has said it was not taking steps to block the film, with deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte calling it a “part of free speech.”

Roque said the issue of freedom of expression would be discussed before the film showing.

“There will be a discussion on freedom of expression preceding the showing and a discussion on the film after,” he said. With Associated Presse