4 Christian teens convicted for mocking ISIS: Guilty of targeting 'religious minorities'

'They have been sentenced for contempt of Islam and inciting sectarian strife.'

Four Coptic Christian teens and their teacher have been sentenced to jail, with one teen sent to a juvenile detention center, in Egypt after recording a video of a mock ISIS execution.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Yahoo! News, the teacher was sent to jail to serve three years, one 15-year-old teenager was sent to a juvenile detention center indefinitely and the remaining three teens were given five years each for "contempt of Islam."

The video was filmed last January on a phone. It depicts one teen kneeling while reciting Muslim prayers as the others laugh behind him. In another scene, one of the boys in the background uses his thumb to indicate the praying boy was decapitated.

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms said they watched the video and saw that the teenagers were "imitating slaughter carried out by terrorist groups" and were targeting "religious minorities."

Defense lawyer Maher Naguib claimed the boys never intended to insult Islam, they simply wanted to mock the executions in the Middle East.

Though the boys were sentenced to jail, Naguib reported they were still free as of Thursday.

"They have been sentenced for contempt of Islam and inciting sectarian strife," he told AFP. "The judge didn't show any mercy. He handed down the maximum punishment."

Egypt's constitution states Islam, Christianity and Judaism are not to be insulted.

Copts make up 10 percent of Egypt's population of 90 million people, making them the largest religious minority.

They are also victims of sectarian violence and persecution.

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