ASTANA, October 4 - RAPSI. The Astana District Court has deemed the "Innocence of Muslims" film extremist and has prohibited it from being screened and distributed in Kazakhstan, the judge said on Thursday, when announcing the sentence.

"The motion put forward by Astana's prosecutor to have "Innocence of Muslims", which is available on Youtube's Internet resources, declared extremist, and to prohibit importing, posting or distributing the film in Kazakhstan has been satisfied," the court's ruling reads.

On September 21, the Kazakh Prosecutor's Office initiated proceedings to have the film declared extremist and to ban it in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Mass protests have broken out over the film in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Sudan, as well as in other predominantly Muslim countries.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was killed along with three colleagues when rioters attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11. The riots were apparently a result of the film.

The film's 14-minute U.S.-made trailer portrays Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in a negative light.

A number of countries have already banned the film from being screened and distributed.

The United States is strengthening the security of its diplomatic staff in countries where they could be subject to attack, while a number of nations have blocked access to the film.

Meanwhile, Google has only honored requests to remove clips of the film from its video-hosting services in certain countries, based on government requests.