Excellent video below! Just one correction, however, Kareem did not blog under a fake name, he provided his full name, pictures, and phone number, which only proved his courage. He expressed his opinions without hiding behind anonymity.
From the article-
The regime also cracked down on Internet freedom and at least seven cyber-dissidents were jailed in 2006. A State Council administrative court endorsed in June an information and communications ministry decision allowing the authorities to block, suspend or shut down websites considered a threat to “national security.” Blogger Kareem Amer was jailed on 6 November for posting criticism of Islam on his blog.
News from Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian blogger and human rights activist working on Kareem’s case:
The trial is adjourned to 22 Feb. The defense memorundum must be submitted within one week.
The judge decided not to listen to oral defense because the two sides (the extremists and our lawyers) were about to fight with each other today!
The earlier update from Dalia:
Kareem is in a very bad situation. Do you remember the extremist lawyer who filed a claim against Kareem during the last session? He is now supported with other ten lawyers.
Our lawyers told me that they descriped Kareem as a disbeliever. This offended our lawyers and made them threaten the other lawyers to be charged with defamation if they continued to describe Kareem as a disbeliever, and the court accepted our lawyers’ demand to respect Kareem.
On the other hand, Kareem’s lawyers insisted on their demands announced last session which included without limitation to having experts from the country at which Rezgar website is operated. The judges are expecting the sentence now.
From the man who made this possible: Constantino -
Hi All,
The rally went well. We were few, but we managed to hand out about 100 fliers to passerby. One Egyptian cab driver who rolled down his window to get a flier asked me, as I approached him, “So what did my government do now?!” Then he honked his horn in solidarity while he waited for the light to turn green.
[...]
We turned our signs to them and started yelling “Free Kareem.” They immediately closed the drapes… but we still caught them peeking out every now and then. A few minutes later, a car with diplomatic plates pulled up right in front of us. They were bringing catered food to the consulate. I tried to give the guy my letter, but he wouldn’t take it.
I should also point out that several people said they had heard about Kareem’s case, and wished us luck. All in all, I think we at least managed to send the message that Kareem is not alone, and we also got to share the information with more people.
I pray that this will all be over tomorrow, and that our friend will be acquitted and set free. But we are definitely keeping the signs in case we need them again. They will hear from us again if they don’t release him. And next time we will do a better job at organizing.
Major thanks goes to Chris Kilmer as well, who contributed a lot to this rally.
Another journalist notes that “Kareem’s case is on the front page of ‘Svenska Dagbladet’ today, Sweden’s leading newspaper (which is distributed all over Scandinavia).”
This isn’t in English, but we’re glad that the case is being covered in various parts of the world and given much importance.
From the Christian Science Monitor -
Egypt steps on the press as it backtracks on democratic reform
Two recent cases have caused journalists and bloggers to fear a government crackdown on freedom of expression.
By Sarah Gauch | Correspondent of The Christian Science MonitorCAIRO - Court proceedings started Sunday against Howaida Taha, an Al Jazeera journalist arrested while producing a documentary on police torture in Egypt. She’s charged with harming national interests and faces five years in prison.
Meanwhile, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer has been in jail since November awaiting trial, charged with criticizing Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Taken together, these cases have given journalists, bloggers, and human rights activists in Egypt cause to fear an impending crackdown on the country’s outspoken independent press and its young, activist bloggers, who have been primary agitators for democratic reform.
“These attacks on the press send a chilling message to all members of the media who attempt to tackle sensitive topics,” says Joel Campagna, Middle East program coordinator at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. “There’s been a steady level of pressure against domestic and pan-Arab media, and bloggers, which might be coming to a head.”
Over the past year, the government has steadily rolled back political reforms implemented since 2004 after the Bush administration singled out Egypt as ripe for democratic reform. Since then, Egypt has held parliamentary elections that were allegedly rife with fraud, police have violently suppressed demonstrations, and the government has arrested hundreds of opposition Muslim Brotherhood members, who hold 88 out of 454 parliamentary seats.
And many worry Egypt’s relative freedom of expression may be ending, too. Indeed, they say, Ms. Taha’s case is alarming. She was accused of fabricating scenes of torture after the authorities discovered her unedited video including reenactments of torture scenes. Taha says she had Interior Ministry cooperation for the project and had told them about the reenactments.
Activists and journalists say the government is trying to squash accusations of Egyptian police torture with Taha’s case, which comes amid revelations of rampant abuse after bloggers posted videos online of apparent police torture.
In one particular case, a minibus driver is shown being sodomized with a stick. Since the tape surfaced, two police officers have been jailed and are scheduled to stand trial. The driver, who subsequently filed a complaint against the police, is serving three months in prison for resisting the authorities.
Mr. Amer is the first Egyptian blogger to face trial. A young former law student at Al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni Islamic learning, he has been in solitary confinement since being jailed. His trial was adjourned last week until Thursday.
