An Egyptian court has sentenced to death seven Coptic Christians who were tried in absentia for participating in the making of the film “Innocence of Muslims,” which had sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world, Reuters reported.

“The seven accused persons were convicted of insulting the Islamic religion through participating in producing and offering a movie that insults Islam and its prophet,” Judge Saif al-Nasr Soliman said.

Included in the death sentence was the film’s director Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who is currently serving a one-year sentence in a California prison for violating probation.

The Egyptian Coptic Christian Church had no comment on the decision. In a recent New York Times interview with Nakoula, the director stated that he wanted to convey “the actual truth” about the prophet Muhammad.