From RSF:

Reporters Without Borders wrote to French President Nicolas Sarkozy today asking him to intercede on behalf of imprisoned blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman and imprisoned journalist Abd al-Munim Gamal al Din Abd al-Munim when he receives a visit from his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, on 2 August.

“When you met with President Mubarak in April, you said you wanted to pursue the ‘same relationship of friendship and trust’ that he had with your predecessor, Jacques Chirac,” the organisation said in its letter. “You called then for the ‘reinforcement of bilateral relations in all areas.’ This cooperation must be accompanied by new demands for the protection of human rights in Egypt. In particular, there is an urgent need to clearly and openly raise the problem of press freedom, as journalists are often arrested, threatened or attacked there.”

The letter added: “The promise which President Mubarak himself made in 2004 to decriminalise press offences has not been kept. Only defaming civil servants has been decriminalized. Thirty-five press offences continue to be punishable by imprisonment, including publishing inaccurate reports, defaming the president or foreign heads of state, and undermining ‘national institutions’ such as the parliament and the army. Egypt does not hesitate to censor journalists’ articles and websites, towards which President Mubarak displays a particularly disturbing authoritarianism.”

The Reporters Without Borders letter reminded President Sarkozy that Suleiman, better known by the pen name of “Kareem Amer,” was arrested on 6 November 2006 for articles posted on his blog (www.karam903.blogspot.com) in which he criticised Egypt’s leading religious institutions including the Sunni university of Al-Azhar, where he studied law. He was sentenced to three years in prison on 22 February for “inciting hatred of Islam” and insulting the president.

Click here to read full article.

We hope that Egypt will take these concerns very seriously and release our innocent friend Kareem.

We have just added a map feature where people can give shout outs to Kareem from all over the world. Please use it as we will show these records to Kareem if ever the chances arrives so that he knows how global this campaign really is.

Click here and add a short note.

We’ll be using this to mark Kareem’s worldwide rally locations as well.

On today’s Al Masry Al Youm (Arabic), Dr. Ali Jum’a Mufti explains that God has given the freedom to all humans to alter their faith, and should they do that their fate awaits them with God on Judgment Day. Dr. Mufti uses certain verses within the Holy Quran to support this argument, “whoever wants to believe shall believe and whoever wants to disbelieve may do so,” as well as “you have your religion and we have ours,” and finally “there’s no hatred in religion.”

Dr. Mufti adds that if a person merely rejects Islam, there is no punishment against that and it should be left in the hands of God. It may only involve the judicial body should that person be actually harmful, an argument not in favor of Egypt’s ruling against Kareem Amer. What Kareem went through is a personal struggle between Him and God, and he is free to believe and express whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t preach violence, which Kareem is also innocent of.

Why, then, did Kareem get sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting” Islam, if the Koran specifically notes that he is free to do so and only God reserves the right and power to punish such person for sinning? Why does the Egyptian government take upon the role of God in this case, punishing whoever it wishes in the name of Islam? We at the Free Kareem Coalition respectfully demand a valid justification on the basis of Kareem’s sentence. Where in the Quran is this action supported? More importantly, where are the rest of the Muslim voices to condemn this grave misrepresentation and injustice?

We are Muslims. Our faith teaches us to live and let live. We are not afraid of criticism as it is normal nor should we allow our governments to play the role of God and make decisions that they don’t have the right to do. Our opinions are our own and we are free to express them, should they be against Islam then the decision is up to God to do as He wishes. The role of the government is to protect us, not imprison those they ideologically disagree with.

We kindly ask the Egyptian government to respect our individual freedoms, if not in the name of humanity, then at the very least in the name of Islam!

Read the article in Arabic here.

Dear readers,

In a few months, on the 6th of November, it will be Kareem’s 1 year anniversary in prison. Can you believe it? One entire year in prison so far merely for speaking his mind! Sharing a dreadful place with actual criminals, because he was brave enough to express his opinions…. on a personal blog!

It’s time for the world to move, and it’s time for us to show Egypt that we have NOT forgotten about Kareem. The less action people take, the more likely similar incidents will happen. We have to oppose this and we have to do it together, as strongly as possible. We must unite to support Kareem regardless of our backgrounds, religious differences, nationalities, or whatever else that usually keeps us apart… we must unite for human rights and free speech, regardless of whether or not we personally agreed with Kareem’s political and religious statements.

We have decided to mark Kareem’s one year anniversary with another (and more powerful!) Free Kareem worldwide rally… we are aiming for at least 20 cities, where people will gather in front of their local Egyptian Embassy with signs and statements to free the innocent blogger.

Due to the fact that the 6th of November will be on a Tuesday, where many people might have work or classes, we think it’s best to move the rally date to Friday, the 9th of November.

We are looking for as much help as we can get to make this possible, so please help us by contacting us using the below info (or via our contact form) and let us know if you are willing to organize one. Please consider doing so! All we ask is that you gather with a few people in front of the embassy to make your voices heard, knowing that many people around the world are also dedicating their time towards this noble and vital cause.

Contact info:

Please provide:

Name
Country
Your requirements (flier information, banner advice, directions, etc)

Thank you, we are trying our best to make this as successful and effective as possible, so please contact us now for collaboration, suggestions and ideas! And more importantly…

SPREAD THE WORD!

A Free Kareem supporter, Gavril Huiber from Romania, shares the following letter:

“On February 20 I wrote to the Egyptian Embassy in Bucharest with a request that they intercede on behalf of Kareem, as it would have been the right thing to do. They ignored that request, so I am about to write another.

Please tell Kareem that he is not alone. The whole civilized world is with him and with the good people of Egypt on this.”

Her previous letter:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to request that you intercede on behalf of Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, who is standing trial accused of contempt of the Islamic religion, harming the reputation of Egypt, and inciting to disrupt the peace and to overthrow the regime.

The charges are absurd. The accused is a college student with a blog and the courage to speak his mind. He is not Egypt’s public enemy. He has, in fact, conducted himself as one of your nation’s finest: he has stated that he believes women and men should be treated equally; that Islamic extremism is gravely hurting Arab society; and that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. Those are things to be shouted from rooftops, not grounds for criminal proceedings. Kareem is walking the path of the righteous. Egypt should be proud.

Please do the right thing. It is bad enough that Kareem has now been abandoned by his own family, and that even if the judge will decide to throw out all the charges, he may still be gunned down by some fanatic. Help free Abdul Kareem, and give him adequate protection. No decent Egyptian should live in fear of either his government or his fellow citizens.

Thank you,

Gavril Huiber

If you wish to take similar action, you can find the required information here.

Thanks Gabi for all your efforts. If anyone wishes to share their letters, please e-mail them to us.

From the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance: [For Arabic readers, click here]

Congress Investigates Plight of Jailed Egyptian Blogger

When Kareem Amer was detained by Egyptian police last November, the 22-year-old student could not have imagined his case would become an international incident. But now Congress is on the case.

The prosecutors interrogating Kareem demanded he recant opinions expressed on his blog. Kareem refused; he was placed in solitary confinement; and a judge sentenced him to four years in prison for “insulting religions” and “defaming Egypt’s president.”

At a recent Congressional hearing in Washington, HAMSA Outreach Director Nasser Weddady, testified about Kareem’s case and threats to other Egyptian bloggers.

“Blogging is the new frontier for free expression – and government repression,” said Weddady. “The uncensored space of blogs enables young Egyptians of diverse backgrounds to publish their thoughts for a global audience. But there has been a dramatic rise in harassment of bloggers, some of whom are now closing their blogs.”

Nonetheless, bloggers from around the world have united behind the “Free Kareem” Campaign. “Over 8,000 people have signed petitions calling for Kareem’s release,” Weddady noted. “The campaign organized rallies outside 12 Egyptian embassies around the world and generated international media coverage of Kareem’s case.”

Basic rights like free expression are not guaranteed, Weddady explained, but rather only given by authorities when citizens submit. Kareem was jailed simply because Egyptian officials felt his opinions crossed a red line.

Weddady asked Congress to intercede with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “The mistake made by one judge can be corrected by President Mubarak,” noted Weddady. “Surely the president of Egypt is not bothered by the blog of a random student.”

More updates on Kareem’s case coming soon.

Read rest of the newsletter here. Also linked within the newsletter is our letter campaign.

Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is an Egyptian-Canadian writer/film producer best known for his book, Baghdad Bound: An Interpreter’s Chronicles of the Iraq War, which has been developed into a screenplay and is currently in the Hollywood pipelines.

He has worked as a freelance investigative journalist with The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Star, Al Jazeera English, Dubai TV, and Showtime among others.

He currently works as a delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross specialized in the protection of detainees and civilians.

Recently he has also sent a report to us which features a highly informative interview with Kareem Amer, detailing his earlier days and rough experiences with familial life and blogging.

We feature an excerpt below, with links to download the document further along in the entry:

Kareem Amer’s own words from an audio-recorded interview conducted by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy.

I started blogging because it was a way of expressing my disapproval of many issues in society, specifically the ill treatment of women in the Muslim world. That freedom didn’t last long. I launched my blog in August 2005 then I was arrested two months later on October 26, 2005. I liked the idea of blogging when I first saw a blog called An Egyptian Girl, owned by a girl called Shainaz.

The blog world represents the new media to me. It allows individuals to become news reporters and it is not the government who is in total control of journalism anymore.

I used to write in Cops United (A Christian Coptic online paper). A girlfriend of mine introduced me to their site but I later realized that they are not promoting civil rights like they advertise. They are simply bias towards Christianity. They want to separate the nation and religion. They simply want a religious Egypt just like the Muslim Brotherhood. I only started to write so that I can have a voice. I wanted to feel alive. I did not have any rebellious ideas in my head. It was a form of venting because my problem since I was a kid is that no one ever listened to me, or I couldn’t simply talk to anyone. Blogging has opened doors we could not even dream.

My problem with Islam built up gradually. It was not over night. I do not think I was ever a real Muslim in any way. Not because my birth certificate states that I am a Muslim and not because I was born into a Muslim family do I really have to follow it. These are mandatory identities forced on us from birth. Many people defend Islam and say that it is a peaceful religion. But, I of course studied in Al-Azhar, the oldest and biggest Islamic institute in the world and what I learned there really disgusted me. The oppression of women in the Islamic Sharia (guidelines) is one of my biggest problems with this religion. I do not think I need to go into detail about that. It is obvious.

[....]

On the night of the arrest I was in deep sleep when I heard the loud knocks at 3 am. My mother opened the door. One of the Amn El Dawla (National Security) cops pulled me out of bed and threw me on the floor. He ordered me to put my clothes on then he explained to my mother that they were taking me in. The five other cops dressed in civilian clothes searched the house looking for a computer but I didn’t own one. At first, they were treating me well. When I asked them about our destination, one of them replied, “ten minutes and you will find out.”

As soon as I entered the National Security headquarters, the officer in charge ordered me to face the wall just like we were punished in school. Half an hour later, a different officer approached me from the back and blindfolded my face. He then dragged me and pushed me up four floors to a room where I sat silent on a chair for hours not aware that there was someone in the room watching me.

The blindfold was not tight. Suddenly, I could only see the man’s shoes as he approached me. I then saw his hand and he said, “I want you to tell me everything or I will gradually torture you like there is no tomorrow. “Ok. What do you want to know?” I answered.

“You know,” he replied.

“Because of the last blog?” I asked.

“Yes. The one called ‘The Naked Truth About Islam As I Saw It’.”

The rest of the interview can be found in the following document:

Kareem’s report by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (Word Document)

It’s also available in PDF format for those who require it.

Sami Ben Gharbia writes:

On February 22, the Egyptian court sentenced the 22-year-old blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (aka Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for insulting Islam and president Hosni Mubarak on his personal blog. Furthermore, on the March 12, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, head of the Alexandria Appeal Court, upheld Kareem’s four-year prison sentence and prepared to launch a lawsuit to block 21 blogs and websites for “defaming Egypt’s image and insulting the president.” Hossam el-Hamalawy republished on his blog the following message from blogger Amr Gharbeia:

The list, 21-websites-long, includes the blogs and sites that took part in the discussion around the book the Judge has written, and the wide plagiarism evident in the book copying HRInfo’s report on Internet Freedoms in the Arab World, and a how-to-blog guide written by blogger Bent Masreya.

Of the 21 blogs and website, I was able so far to confirm Kifaya’s and HRInfo’s websites, in addition to the blogs of Bent Masreya, Yehia Megahed, and my own.

However, and despite the power and the unity that characterize the Egyptian blogshpere, many believe that the Egyptian regime, using the stratagem of sowing discord by condemning Kareem Amer, has succeeded in dividing Egyptian bloggers into two camps: the Islamists, who criticize the way Kareem was writing about Islam and Muslims and, in a way, support his condemnation; and the liberals, who are defending Kareem’s rights and campaigning for his release. According to Elijah Zarwan, a Cairo-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, “many of the people who defended Kareem in the Egyptian blogosphere strenuously objected, publicly or privately, to some of his writings. But they still defended his right to express his views. In any case, as the Egyptian blogosphere grows, it is becoming more reflective of the diversity and pluralism of Egypt itself. Kareem didn’t divide the blogosphere. It wasn’t unified to begin with.”

Read full article here.

Moataz El-Fegiery writes in the Lebanon-based regional Daily Star:

Unwilling to remain on the sidelines in the reform debate in the Middle East for the past two years, Arab governments have asserted themselves against civil society activists and reformists, creating a significant rise in the numbers of Arab prisoners of conscience. The return of security issues to the fore once again in the politics of the region, as well as the softening of calls by the international community for freedom and reform, have encouraged Arab regimes in such actions.

Later in the article, Kareem’s case is mentioned:

Egypt has similarly prosecuted journalist Huweida Taha for “publishing false information violating the reputation of the country,” due to her work on torture, as well as blogger Karim Amer and newspaper editor Ibrahim Issa for “insulting the president.”

Read full article here.

For the Arabic readers and bloggers, here is a translation of our letter campaign:

(You may also download the document in word.)