We urge you all to listen to this podcast where Tom G. Palmer discusses Kareem’s case with his colleague Anastasia Uglova from the Cato Institute.
Download MP3 (or simply click to listen)
An excerpt from the Index on Censorship:
Egyptian blogger sentenced to four years imprisonment
John HendelA 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.
Cairo-based blogger Yasmin Amin provides an excellent analysis of Kareem Amer’s entire blog, concluding that his blog posts were anything but harmful: The Crime of obeying God!
Excerpts:
Since that last entry he has been arrested and detained and has no doubt gone through hell. We have all seen enough videos on YouTube of what goes on in Egyptian Police Stations to know that his detention there was probably a nightmare – to say the least.
[…]
He writes about honour killings and how the hymen is an affliction women are cursed with and how this insignificant piece of skin becomes a curse. Strangely enough just this week Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued a fatwa making hymen reconstruction surgery for women who have lost their virginity before marriage as halal [Islamically permissible].
[…]
Karim criticised the use of religion to suppress women in all spheres of life. He objects to not educating girls, of not allowing them to work in certain professions and fields. He condemns female circumcision and genital mutilation as yet another form of repression. He criticises marrying off girls at an early age and is very passionate about discontinuing domestic violence. All his criticism has been dealt with before by Al Azhar and the Grand Mufti. Just this month Egypt’s top Grand Mufti declared that Islam does not bar women from becoming heads of state.
[…]
He criticises the blind following of so-called enlightened individuals who have a magic hold on many young people by means of lectures distributed via cassette tapes. He writes about the elections, about Ayman Nour, the Kefaya Movement, about Nawal Sadawi and Inas El Deghedi, a female movie director with many controversial and highly critical films.
[…]
In August he wrote an open letter to the President. He posed many questions to him about forgeries in elections, about his long time rule, about whether or not he intends to fight discrimination in Egypt on religious grounds, about providing job opportunities for young graduates and about the rumours of appointing Gamal Mubarak as a successor. All his questions come from the President’s own campaign speeches and slogans or from articles previously published in opposition papers. Again nothing new here! Perhaps the only thing was that he actually urged the President to reconsider running.
[…]
In another post in August 2005 he criticised the statement made by Al Azhar to allow enrolment of Coptic students under the condition that they memorise the Qur’an. Personally I can see the double standards evident in such a permit.
[…]
[Karim] exercised his freedom of opinion. He took his right of expressing his opinion seriously and believed enough in it to write it on the internet in a publicly accessible blog. In my opinion Karim lived up to both his own true self and principles as well as his religion.
This is very well worth reading. Read it all and spread the word about Kareem.
Thanks to everyone who sent us links to media outlets.
Major Media Outlets
CNN: Egypt blogger jailed for insults
“I was hoping that he would get a harsher sentence because he presented to the world a bad image of Egypt. There are things that one should not talk about, like religion and politics. He should have got a 10-year sentence,” said lawyer Nizar Habib, who attended the trial as a member of the public.
BBC: Egypt blogger jailed for ‘insult’
During the five-minute court session the judge said Soliman was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak.
TIME: The Blogger-Martyr of Egypt
In his blog, Kareem predicted that he would get into trouble with the law for his views. Still, he insisted on his right to freedom of expression and made no secret of his disgust for the laws that govern the system and restrict his liberties. He warned Al Azhar scholars and professors that they would end up in “the garbage of history.”
Associated Press: Egypt blogger gets 4 years in prison
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media rights group, said Internet writers and editors are the fastest-growing segment of imprisoned journalists, with 49 behind bars as of December.
“With this verdict, Egypt has opened up a new front in its efforts to stifle media freedoms,” said Joel Campagna, the group’s senior Middle East program coordinator.
CBC: Arab governments wake up to threat of blogging
Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil, 22, has been in detention since November on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife for writing that is critical of Islamic authorities.
His trial, which began in January in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, is the first trial of a blogger in Egypt.[…]
There are now 26 million internet users in the Arab world and 40,000 Arabic blogs, according to a report by the Initiative for an Open Arab Internet.
Sawsen Zaidah, a Jordanian journalist who produces the program Eye on the Media, says blogging is appealing because it is not as heavily controlled as traditional media.
Al-Jazeera English: Egyptian blogger sentenced to jail
A blogger attending the trial who goes by the name “Sandmonkey” said: “It’s a dangerous precedent because it will impact the only free space available now, which is the internet. The charges were undefined and vague.”
Coverage of the trial has even reached Iceland and Denmark.
More media coverage from Google News.
Blogosphere Coverage
Amira Al-Husseini provides an excellent summary of the reaction of the blogosphere on Global Voices Online: Arabisc: Bloggers Rally to Kareem’s Support
When Kareem was first detained in early November for this writings, many bloggers in the Middle East tried to distance themselves from the case because they did they did not want to be associated with blasphemy against Islam. Today, while some condemn the sentence as an attack on freedom of expression, others believe the blogger got what he deserved for swimming against the tide.
[…]
Egyptian blogger Sharaqwi calls for a campaign to release Kareem and promote freedom of expression in his country.
الحكم مقلق وضد حماية حق الرأى والتعبير وممكن يبقى بداية لسجن النشطاء بتهمة أهانة الرئيس..
يسقط يسقط حسنى مبارك………
مش عاوزينة مش عاوزينه.. مهما يقولوا اننا بنهينه
مطلوب حملة تضامن مع كريم والدفاع عنه وعن حرية الرأى والتعبير،
وهنسيبنا من أى دعاوى اننا بنتضامن مع مدون كافر..
احنا بنتضامن مع مصرى منتهكة حقوقه.“The sentence is alarming and against freedom of expression. This could also be the beginning of imprisoning activists for insulting the president. Down Down Hosni Mubarak.. We don’t want him.. we don’t want him.. however much they say we insult him..What is required now is a campaign to support Kareem and defend both him and freedom of speech. And let’s not argue about whether we are supporting an atheist blogger. We are supporting an Egyptian who is being denied his rights,” he explains.
[…]
American blogger and a supporter of Kareem Dr Tom Palmer insists that the sentence will not go unchallenged.
“This will not go unchallenged. His case is the case of every blogger, every dissident, every person who aspires to life as a free citizen. My sincere thanks and recognition to all who have helped the cause of free speech and the case of Abdelkareem. Please be ready to act again, respectfully and with dignity, in the hope that this grave miscarriage of justice will be corrected, perhaps in a way that will allow the Egyptian authorities to do the right thing and save face,” he writes.
Another American blogger Doug Mataconis wonders what his government’s reaction to the sentence would be.
Keep in mind. An American ally and supposed example of moderate Islam. And what has the Bush Administration had to say about this travesty ? So far, nothing:
The Bush administration has not commented on Nabil’s trial, despite its past criticism of the arrests of Egyptian rights activists.
We’re waiting Mr. President.
[…]
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif, who is himself facing a defamation case in a Bahraini court, was also quick to the defence of Kareem, describing today as a sad day for freedom of expression.
“And if Egypt leads, the Arab world are supposed to follow, right? So the arrest, detention and jailing of people for simply writing their thoughts is forging ahead unchecked in the Middle East… and there doesn’t seem to be any will whatsoever for anyone to stop it, even for a moment, to think of what that is going to do for this and future generations.
Yet another reason for one to maintain their anonymity at all times.
Big brother is not just watching, but is waiting to pounce at the slightest chance to silence critics in the full sight of the world and even they are not interested in doing anything about the situation,” writes a concerned Al Yousif.
More blogosphere coverage on Google Blog Search.
UPDATE: Der Spiegel, Europe’s biggest and Germany’s most influential weekly magazine, has published Kareem Amer’s case: Four years detention for Blogger in Egypt. (Hat tip: 404)
Upon popular request we have started a Free Kareem forum on the Mideast Youth message board. If you have anything to say, please register and post it there. The first discussion is on whether or not Kareem deserves imprisonment, as many Arabs and Muslims here are claiming the fact that it’s well-deserved.
We are ready for heated debates, but remember to stay respectful at all times.
From Reporters Without Borders:
22 February 2007
Four-year prison sentence for blogger “Kareem Amer”
Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned the four-year prison sentence imposed today by a court in Alexandria on Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman for “inciting hatred of Islam” and insulting President Hosni Mubarak in his blog, for which he used the pseudonym of “Kareem Amer.”
“This sentence is a disgrace,” the press freedom organisation said. “Almost three years ago to the day, President Mubarak promised to abolish prison sentences for press offences. Suleiman’s conviction and sentence is a message of intimidation to the rest of the Egyptian blogosphere, which had emerged in recent years as an effective bulwark against the regime’s authoritarian excesses.”
Reporters Without Borders continued: “As a result of this conviction, which clearly confirms Egypt’s inclusion in our list of Internet enemies, we call on the United Nations to reject Egypt’s request to host the Internet Governance Forum in 2009. After letting Tunisia, another violator of online freedom, host the World Summit on the Information Society, such a choice would completely discredit the UN process for debating the future of the Internet.”
The organisation added: “This heavy sentence is also a slap in the face for the international organisations and governments that support President Mubarak’s policies. It is time the international community took a stand on Egypt’s repeated violations of press freedom and the rights of Internet users.”
Suleiman, who was arrested on 6 November 2006, got three years for inciting hatred of Islam and one year for insulting the president. The judge dismissed the charge of “spreading rumours liable to disturb the peace” which had been included in the prosecution’s indictment. Suleiman’s blogs regularly criticised the government’s religious and authoritarian excesses. He also criticised Egypt’s highest religious institutions including the Sunni university of Al-Azhar, where he studied law.
Egypt is on the list of the 13 Internet enemies which Reporters Without Borders compiled in 2006. The government wants to host one of the stages of the Internet Governance Forum, a series of UN-sponsored negotiations about how to regulate the Internet (see: http://www.intgovforum.org/).
On 23 February 2004, the newly-elected president of the Union of Egyptian Journalists, Galal Aref, made an important announcement: President Mubarak had just telephoned him and had formally undertaken to abolish prison sentences for journalists in connection with their work. In effect, he was promising a major overhaul of the laws concerning press offences. Three years later, nothing has changed. Journalists still risk being imprisoned despite the semblance of a reform last year.
Reporters Without Borders believes that people writing online, like professional journalists, should enjoy the basic right to freedom of expression and it condemns any use of prison sentences to punish offences linked to the publication of views and information.
Previous updates on Kareem Amer by Reporters Without Borders are available here.
Egypt: Karim Amer sentence makes bloggers new target of the authorities
Press release, 22/02/2007
Amnesty International condemns the four-year sentence handed down by an Egyptian court today against blogger Karim Amer, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
“This sentence is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director. “The Egyptian authorities must protect the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, even if the views expressed might be perceived by some as offensive. Amnesty International considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views.”
“The Egyptian authorities must repeal legislation that, in violation of international standards, stipulates prison sentences for acts which constitute nothing more than the peaceful exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion.”
Karim Amer is the first Egyptian blogger to be tried for writing blogs criticizing Egypt’s al-Azhar religious authorities, President Husni Mubarak and Islam. Charges against him included “spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country’s reputation”, “incitement to hate Islam” and “defaming the President of the Republic”.
Further information :
Egyptian blogger faces 10-year prison sentence
Our comment policy will be more strict. It appears to be that many people are taking the chance to bash Kareem rather than express concern for him. This site is not meant to serve as a message board. It’s an informative source about Kareem, and a place for people to receive his constant updates.
I’d like to make it clear that the creators and main supporters of the Free Kareem campaign are Muslim, and we are doing this despite what Kareem said about our religion. Free speech doesn’t mean “speech that you approve of.” It includes criticism.
You may be disgusted at what he said, even angered. That’s okay, so are we! But we will defend with all our might his right to express such opinions, because it is his basic human right that none of you have the right to justify and take away.
Kareem is a good man. Some of us know him personally, and thus we know that he is harmless. If you want to express your dislike for Kareem, please go elsewhere. We have no time to put up with hate mail or disgusted rantings, but we will address the remarks of those who e-mailed us respectfully without insulting any of us or Kareem.
We are preparing a new section on the site to address Muslims who think that Kareem deserves imprisonment merely because of his stance against Islam. That is not the right mentality to have. We should not fear criticism, we should welcome and refute it respectfully. We love our religion and we do not like what Kareem had to say about it, and we also dislike the manner in which he said it in. But as Muslims, it is our duty to make sure that others understand that this isn’t Islam. Islam did not put Kareem behind bars, the Egyptian government did. And Muslims should not approve of the fact that the Egyptian government, and a lot of Arab governments for that matter, are using Islam to hide behind their own faults.
If you truly want to help Kareem, don’t target Islam. Target the Egyptian authorities, and the mentality that Kareem “deserves” this treatment merely for disagreeing with us and our beliefs.
Despite a very sad day, we have good news from London: 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.
In an e-mail message from the Index on Censorship:
We at Index on Censorship have selected Kareem Amer as one of our shortlisted nominees for the Index Awards Ceremony 2007 in the category of Journalism. Each category consists of four individuals and the winner will be announced on 14 March at LSO St. Luke’s in London. You can find some more information at Index’s central website for the moment, www.indexonline.org.
Stay tuned.
This is only the beginning of a very hard time for Kareem: Blogger gets 4 years for insulting Islam
Nabil [Kareem Amer], wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in the defendants pen, gave no reaction and his face remained still as the verdict was read. He made no comment to reporters as he was immediate led outside to a prison truck.
Seconds after he was loaded into the truck and the door closed, an Associated Press reporter heard the sound of a slap from inside the vehicle and a shriek of pain from Nabil.
Please stay strong Kareem…
