One year ago, Egyptian blogger Karim Amer was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for the “crime” of publishing on the internet material critical of Islam and President Mubarak.
The then 23-year-old former al-Azhar University student was sentenced on 22 February 2007 and the Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence on 12 March of the same year. Amnesty International described the sentence as yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt.
Amnesty International considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned on account of the peaceful expression of his views. The organisation condemned the four-year sentence he received and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Karim Amer, who is serving his prison sentence in Borg Al-Arab Prison, Alexandria, wrote in his letters to one of his legal counsels that he was beaten on 24 October 2007.
Karim Amer said he was punched and kicked by a prisoner and a prison guard under the supervision of a prison investigations officer. One of his teeth was broken and he was badly bruised. He was then taken to a disciplinary cell, hand-cuffed and his legs tied up and beaten again by the same two individuals on the orders of the prison investigations officer.
He also wrote that another prisoner unknown to him was brought to the cell, stripped naked and beaten by the same individuals in his presence. He was then threatened that he would receive the same treatment if he intervened again in the prisons’ affairs. Karim Amer said he advised Eritreans in the prison to keep their money after he had discovered that one Eritrean cell-mate to whom he serves as an interpreter lost US$100.
Karim Amer wrote that he was examined by the prison’s doctor, but there was no mention of his broken tooth in the medical report. He also said that he was not allowed to file a complaint about what happened.
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