An excerpt from the Index on Censorship:

Egyptian blogger sentenced to four years imprisonment
John Hendel

A 22-year-old Egyptian blogger named Abdul Kareem Suleiman Amer assumed the handle ‘Kareem Amer’ on his blog a long time ago but now people from around the world know him by this name. His blog writings, in favour of secularism and women’s rights, led to his expulsion from al-Azhar university in early 2006 and solitary confinement in prison since November. This morning an Alexandria court sentenced Kareem to four years in prison for criticising Egyptian President Mubarak and insulting Islam

Police arrested Kareem on 6 November on charges of inciting hatred of Islam, defaming the president and spreading rumours likely to disturb the peace. His trial underwent repeated delays and he had faced potentially as many as eleven years in prison for the blog writings. Blog postings also caused his arrest and detention for 12 days in October 2005.

‘The state of freedom of expression in Egypt is getting worse one day after the other,’ said Dalia Ziada, a Cairo-based human rights activist and translator who helped secure Kareem a lawyer for the trial. She called Kareem’s case a ‘severe violation to freedom of expression in Egypt.’

Protestors around the world shouted down Egyptian embassies on 15 February during what they called ‘Free Kareem Day’. The group’s website describes demonstrations in London, Bucharest, Rome, Berlin, Ottawa, Paris, Washington DC, Chicago, and New York. Other demonstrations have occurred in Stockholm and Bahrain and US Congressmen and Italian MPs have written letters protesting Kareem’s detention. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters without Borders have condemned the arrest.

As previously mentioned, Kareem has been selected as a nominee for one of the 7th Annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards, which are intended to honor the world’s champions of freedom of expression.

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