Egyptian court orders one-month ban on YouTube
Cairo, May 27: Egypt's top administrative court ordered on Saturday to block YouTube streaming website for one month over hosting a video that denigrates Prophet Muhammad of Islam, the Egyptian lawyer who filed the lawsuit said.
"The ruling is final, unappealable and enforceable," Xinhua quoted lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem as saying.
A lower administrative court has previously ordered the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to do so, but the latter appealed against the ruling, citing it was hard to implement.
The top administrative court rejected the NTRA appeal on Saturday and upheld the temporary ban as a final, unappealable ruling.
The lawsuit dates back to 2013 when the Egyptian lawyer demanded to ban YouTube in Egypt until the offensive clip on Prophet Muhammad and other anti-Islamic videos are removed.
"The ruling is a punishment for YouTube website that will cost it massive economic losses," Salem said.
Privately funded and produced in California, the controversial video first appeared on YouTube in 2012, raising a wave of anti-American outrage in the Muslim world where Prophet Muhammad is highly revered.
The lawyer said that "the offensive video" led some fanatic Islamists to assault the U.S. and British embassies in Cairo at the time.
It is unclear how the temporary ban will be implemented, as YouTube was still working in Egypt until Saturday evening.
"The NTRA is responsible for implementing the ban and there is no technical difficulty to do so," the lawyer said, warning "I will file a lawsuit against the NTRA chief if the ban is not implemented."
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India to pursue extradition of Khalistani separatist Arsh Dalla with Canada following his arrest
New Delhi, Nov 14: India on Thursday said it will pursue an extradition request with Canada for Arsh Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force, following his arrest in that country.
Dalla was designated in India as a terrorist in 2023.
In July 2023, India had requested the Canadian government for his provisional arrest.
"In view of the recent arrest, our agencies will be following up on an extradition request," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"Given Arsh Dalla's criminal record in India and his involvement in similar illegal activities in Canada, it is expected that he will be extradited or deported to face justice in India," he added.
Dalla was reportedly arrested by the Canadian Police late last month.
"We have seen media reports circulating since November 10 on the arrest in Canada of proclaimed offender Arsh Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force," Jaiswal said.
"Canadian print and visual media have widely reported on the arrest. We understand that the Ontario Court has listed the case for hearing," he added.
Jaiswal was replying to media queries regarding the arrest of Dalla.
"Arsh Dalla is a proclaimed offender in over 50 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and terrorist acts, including terror financing. In May 2022, a Red Corner Notice was issued against him," Jaiswal said.
"He was designated in India as an individual terrorist in 2023. In July 2023, the Government of India had requested the Canadian government for his provisional arrest. This was declined," he added.
Jaiswal said India had provided additional information in the case to the Canadian authorities.
"A separate request was also sent to Canada under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to verify Arsh Dalla's suspected residential address, his financial transactions to India, moveable/immovable properties, details of mobile numbers etc - all of which were provided to Canadian authorities in January 2023," Jaiswal said.
"In December 2023, the Department of Justice of Canada sought additional information on the case. A reply to these queries was sent in March this year," he added.
Our response to media queries regarding the arrest of a designated terrorist in Canada:https://t.co/c6CasRuteb pic.twitter.com/XfH4S5UzUr
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) November 14, 2024
