The following is a translation of an article that appeared today in the Egyptian Daily Almasry Alyoum:

ANHRI Requests Kareem’s Immediate Release from President Mubarak for Having Spent 3/4 of His Sentence

Wael Ali wrote on 16 October 2009

Yesterday, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information raised a plea to President Mubarak to issue instructions to the Minister of Interior to release blogger Kareem Amer, especially since the Ministry of Interior released officer Islam Nabih who was found guilty on charges of torture. The officer was not only released before completing three quarters of his time but was also allowed to report back to his work at the said Ministry.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Network assured that the Ministry of Interior revealed its intentions of depriving Kareem Amer – who has been in the prison of Burj Al-Arab for the past three years- of his right to be released after having served three quarters of his time, which is a legal right for all prisoners.

The statement reported that some officers at the Egyptian Prison Administration, which is part of the Ministry of Interior, informed the attorney of the Network’s Legal Support Unit for Freedom of Expression that the plea to release Kareem Amer, which was filed by the Network will not be accepted by the state’s Security Apparatus, and that the release decision should be issued from a higher authority – meaning the President of the Republic – in order to be accepted.

The statement also pointed out that Kareem Amer is entitled to his right to be released on the 5th of next November, when he completes his three-year sentence in prison, as part of the penalty of his imprisonment for a period of four years following investigations and court hearings pertaining to issues that Kareem published on his blog and on the civilized dialogue website [الحوار المتمدن].

The statement also pointed out that despite the fact that the Egyptian court of cessation will issue its decision regarding the plea – filed by Kareem Amer’s attorneys at the Arab Network for Human Rights Information on the 20th of last October, which all attorneys working in the field of defending freedom of expression in Egypt and around the world anticipate that this decision will clear things in the correct manner and order another hearing for Kareem – Amer’s right to be released after completing three quarters of his sentence shall prevail despite the court’s decision.

It also pointed out that at the time when the Arab Network received more than 600 letters and postcards from citizens in Egypt and around the world in support of Kareem, the state security apparatus in Egypt continues to harass Kareem in prison and deprive him of visits since last March, where Kareem suffered for a state of “prison within a prison.” [Many letters were sent via our letter campaign and the "Flood the Jail with Mail" initiative.]