Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, alleged ‘Innocence of Muslims’ filmmaker, is arrested
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man thought responsible for anti-Islam footage that sparked days of rioting throughout the Muslim world earlier this month, was arrested late Thursday on charges of violating parole terms tied to a separate 2010 fraud case, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Nakoula was found guilty of fraud in a 2010 case and released in 2011 on probation terms that restricted, among other things, his use of the Internet, said the LA Times. However, his association with the anti-Islam footage released on YouTube prompted authorities to investigate whether or not he broke the rules of his parole.
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US Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal found Nakoula a flight risk and ordered him held without the possibility of bail, said Reuters.
“The court has a lack of trust in the defendant at this time,” Segal stated, denying Nakoula’s bail request at a US District Court, reported Reuters.
Prosecutors are charging the 55-year-old Egyptian-American with violating eight terms of his parole, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The footage for which Nakoula is thought responsible, a 14-minute trailer for a supposedly forthcoming film titled “Innocence of Muslims,” a clip recently subtitled in Arabic, openly mocks Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Those involved with the film claim to have been conned into it, and Nakoula — a Coptic Christian — is suspected of operating under the false name Sam Bacile.
However, Nakoula’s full involvement with the film is unclear and the case remains murky.
