Egypt’s Justice Minister, Ahmed al-Zind, has been sacked after he said live on television that he would arrest and imprison the Prophet Muhammad if he broke the law.
Zind’s comments came in a televised interview on Friday. Upon realising what he had said, Zind immediately stopped and said: “I ask for forgiveness from God.”
He also issued an apology in another interview on Saturday, but to no avail.
“Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree today to relieve Ahmed al-Zind … of his position,” a government statement said.
Zind, a former appeals court judge, had been an ardent critic of the Muslim Brotherhood a supported the military coup which removed the group from power after a free and fair election in 2013.
He opposed the 2011 uprising that saw the end of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
Egyptian judges issued a statement opposing Zind’s removal over what the head of the Judges Club told Reuters was a “slip of the tongue” that could have happened to anyone.
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