Free Kareem! - Urge Egyptian Government to Release Online Activists

Human Rights First has launched a letter campaign for you to request the release of 3 detained bloggers/activists. The letter will be aimed at the Foreign Minister’s recent visit to New York in order to represent Egypt in the United Nations General Assembly, despite the fact that Egypt clearly doesn’t believe in free speech or human rights. Please take a moment to get involved:

This week an Egyptian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in New York City to participate in the United Nations General Assembly. Even as these officials speak on behalf of their country, the Egyptian government continues its assault on free expression.

At this moment, three bloggers in detention are:

Mosaad Suleiman Hassan (better known by his pen name Mosaad Abu Fajr), novelist and activist from the northern Sinai, detained since December 26, 2007;

Mohamed Refaat, a 22-year-old student at Cairo University, arrested on July 21, 2008, whose detention continues under Emergency Laws. He faces accusations that include incitement of a strike;

Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman (a.k.a. “Kareem Amer”), a 23-year-old former student at Al-Azhar University currently serving a four-year sentence for views he expressed on his blog.

This year Egyptian authorities have arrested, detained, and prosecuted at least 20 bloggers, journalists, and activists. Using broadly-worded laws that criminalize insulting the president or religion, or harming Egypt’s reputation, and relying on Emergency Laws to justify prolonged detention, the government has clamped down on one of the most basic rights-the right to free expression.

Please call on the Egyptian authorities to release the bloggers currently detained and stop using vague, overly-broad laws to repress free speech.

The message to release these innocent detained individuals will be directed to:

Ambassador to the UN H.E. Maged Abdelaziz

Egyptian Interior Minister H.E. General Habib Ibrahim El-Adly

Foreign Minister of Egypt H.E. Ahmed Aboul Gheit

H.E. Ambassador Sameh Shoukry

President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak

Take action here.

COMMENTS

Posted In: Freedom of speech, Human rights, Letter Campaign

Free Kareem Editor

Dear Wii, to answer your question:

On what grounds is he being held?

Kareem was called into the prosecutor’s office in early November. Despite the presence of a human rights attorney representing him, he was interrogated about his personal religious practice and his opinion on current political issues. When he refused to recant his blog writings, he was detained for a few days. That detention has since been extended on several occasions, and over two months later Kareem is still in jail without trial. By the end of February 2007, he was sentenced to four years for the material he posted on his blog.

More information can be found at our FAQ page. Thanks for stopping by!

Wii

I don't understand, why was he jailed?