CAIRO, Mar 22 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's cassation court upheld a five-year prison sentence handed to an ultra-conservative Muslim preacher, convicted after publicly tearing a bible during a protest in 2012. 

The Salafi preacher Ahmed Abdullah, more commonly known by the name of “Abu Islam", was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison in June 2013 on three charges; libel, defaming religion and disturbing peace and security.

Later in 2013, an appeals court reduced the sentence to five years instead.

Today's cassation court decision to uphold the sentence is final. 

The bible-tearing incident dates back to September 2012, when angry protesters gathered outside the American embassy in Cairo to express their objection to a short video produced in the United States ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. 

The video titled, Innocence of Muslims, sparked anti-American protests in several countries in the region.