<p>A popular Islamic preacher who claimed Israel was using Covid vaccines to spy on the world's population was on Monday convicted in Bangladesh over his controversial sermons.</p>.<p>Kazi Ibrahim, 62, is the chief cleric of a mosque in downtown Dhaka and used his platform to make multiple spurious claims about coronavirus.</p>.<p>Several of his sermons went viral at the peak of the pandemic, including one in which he claimed to have found a mathematical formula that could be used to make a homemade vaccine.</p>.<p>Ibrahim was arrested for religious incitement in late 2021 under Bangladesh's Digital Security Act, though police did not publicly disclose the specific sermon for which he was charged.</p>.<p>He pleaded guilty to the charge and a court on Monday sentenced him to time served, prosecutor Nazrul Islam told AFP.</p>.<p>As Bangladeshi health workers fought to bring the pandemic under control, Ibrahim made a number of public comments suggesting a sinister side to Covid vaccinations.</p>.<p>He amplified suggestions by Brazil's then-president Jair Bolsonaro that inoculation could lead to women growing beards and men speaking with effeminate voices.</p>.<p>Ibrahim also said Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates had teamed up with the Israeli government to implant microchips in vaccinated Bangladeshis as a tool of social control.</p>
<p>A popular Islamic preacher who claimed Israel was using Covid vaccines to spy on the world's population was on Monday convicted in Bangladesh over his controversial sermons.</p>.<p>Kazi Ibrahim, 62, is the chief cleric of a mosque in downtown Dhaka and used his platform to make multiple spurious claims about coronavirus.</p>.<p>Several of his sermons went viral at the peak of the pandemic, including one in which he claimed to have found a mathematical formula that could be used to make a homemade vaccine.</p>.<p>Ibrahim was arrested for religious incitement in late 2021 under Bangladesh's Digital Security Act, though police did not publicly disclose the specific sermon for which he was charged.</p>.<p>He pleaded guilty to the charge and a court on Monday sentenced him to time served, prosecutor Nazrul Islam told AFP.</p>.<p>As Bangladeshi health workers fought to bring the pandemic under control, Ibrahim made a number of public comments suggesting a sinister side to Covid vaccinations.</p>.<p>He amplified suggestions by Brazil's then-president Jair Bolsonaro that inoculation could lead to women growing beards and men speaking with effeminate voices.</p>.<p>Ibrahim also said Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates had teamed up with the Israeli government to implant microchips in vaccinated Bangladeshis as a tool of social control.</p>