A US lawyer who successfully defended Rifqa Bary, a teenage Christian convert from Islam, has had his organisation’s website destroyed by a Muslim hacker.
John Stemberger is also facing a $10 million lawsuit filed by the lawyer who represented Miss Bary’s Muslim parents.
Mr Stemberger represented Rifqa Bary, who hit the headlines last year when she told US media that she would not be safe with her Muslim parents and feared an ‘honour killing’. Her father has denied the allegations.
Obscene
Earlier this week Mr Stemberger’s pro-family organisation, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), said that a Muslim hacker had managed to access their website, disabling parts of it and interfering with the inner workings of the site.
The hacker left an “obscene message on the events page explaining in broken English who he was and why he was hacking the site”, according to Mr Stemberger.
It is reported that the message included references to the organisation’s views on “the Great Islam”.
Frivolous
Mr Stemberger is being sued by Miss Bary’s parent’s lawyer over allegations of “emotional distress” and “damage to reputation”.
But Mr Stemberger said the lawsuit was a frivolous publicity stunt and also commented that the same lawyer has “filed multiple grievances against me with the Florida Bar, trying to have me disbarred or disciplined as an attorney”.
When Miss Bary’s case was transferred from Florida to Ohio, where her parents were living, another lawyer took up the case. But Mr Stemberger appeared on Fox News to discuss the case and also talked about ‘honour killings’.
Part of the lawsuit is also against a blogger who made claims about Mr and Mrs Bary’s lawyer.
Deportation
In April this year it emerged that Rifqa Bary faced deportation from the USA but in August she turned 18 and has now been granted US residency.
According to reports, her US residency allows Miss Bary to get a Social Security number, apply to colleges and apply for a driver’s licence.
Miss Bary, who has been suffering from uterine cancer, will also be able to get health care cover.
Watch a CBN report on the latest development in Rifqa Bary’s story