UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday the maker of an anti-Islam film that triggered violent protests across the Muslim world abused his right to freedom of expression by making the movie, which he called a "disgraceful and shameful act."

The film, posted on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," mocked the Prophet Mohammad and portrayed him as a womanizer and a fool.

It sparked days of deadly anti-American violence in many Muslim countries, including an assault on the US consulate in Benghazi in Libya in which the US ambassador died.

"Freedoms of expression should be and must be guaranteed and protected, when they are used for common justice, common purpose," Ban told a news conference.

"When some people use this freedom of expression to provoke or humiliate some others' values and beliefs, then this cannot be protected in such a way."

"My position is that freedom of expression, while it is a fundamental right and privilege, should not be abused by such people, by such a disgraceful and shameful act," he said.

A California man convicted of bank fraud was taken in for questioning on Saturday by US authorities investigating possible probation violations stemming from the making of the video. He has denied involvement in the film and has now gone into hiding.

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Editor's Note: A prime example of a complete ignorance where the concept of free speech is concerned. Our Framers enshrined free speech into the Charters of Freedom because they wanted to secure an individual's right to confront power, be it governmental or institutional. While individuals have the obligation to be responsible with their free speech rights, institutions and elected (and appointed) officials have no right to coerce American citizens where political or religious free speech is concerned. Specifically, no one from the United Nations has the moral authority to opine about free speech rights...considering they routinely turn a blind eye to genocide, have no practical definition for "terrorism," and routinely try to morph their forum into a global government.


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