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10 UC Muslim Students Stand Trial For Alleged Speech Disruption

SANTA ANA (AP) — Prosecutors have argued that 10 Muslim university students broke the law when they shouted down a speech by the Israeli ambassador on a Southern California campus.

Prosecutor Dan Wagner on Wednesday says emails from the leader of a Muslim campus group at University of California, Irvine show that students carefully drafted a plan to disrupt an address by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren last year and read from scripted statements to carry it out.

But defense attorneys say the students planned their protest within the boundaries of the law and their combined statements lasted no longer than five minutes.

The opening statements came in the trial of 10 Muslim students facing misdemeanor charges that carry a maximum sentence of a year in jail if convicted.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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