The Californian man behind the Innocence of Muslims online movie that triggered violence in the Middle East was sentenced to death on Wednesday in absentia in an Egyptian court.

Mark Basseley Youssef was among the seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor sentenced on charges linked to the low-budget, anti-Islam film.

Sentenced to death in Egypt ... Mark Basseley Youssef aka Nakoula Basseley Nikoula. Credit:Reuters

The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are all outside Egypt and unlikely to ever serve the sentences.

The charges were brought in September during a wave of public outrage in Egypt over the amateur film, which was produced by Youssef, who lived in Cerritos, California.