Photographer’s caption:

Shahinaz encouraged everyone in the group to write letter to Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman, the blogger who was jailed last year for insulting Islam and President Mubarak, and facilitated matters by providing stamped envelopes.

Please follow this lead and write a letter to Kareem this week.

17 year old Kenneth Bergfeld came across Kareem’s story in Germany. He felt that such an injustice must be fought. He wishes to share his artistic contribution with the Free Kareem campaign and the rest of the world, and thus, here is Kenneth’s portrait of Kareem, followed by his description of it:

My painting may not look 100% like Kareem, but it probably is the most “famous” picture of him and the facial expression of his give reason enough for a spectator to recognize Kareem or at least to assume it is him.

The painting has the measurements of 120 cm times 80 cm and the medium is acrylics on canvas.

I’d like to stress why it was important for me to paint Kareem. When reading the newspaper article concerning Kareem’s situation it felt awkward to me that although we live in a globalized world issues such as the freedom of speech can not be taken for granted everywhere.

I had difficulties imaging myself being imprisoned for sharing my own opinion in school (Kareem’s case is that of university). It seems so normal that we say what is on our heart, that we speak out our concerns, criticize government, leaderships and various institutions. Yet, there are countries where these freedoms are not granted to the people.

So the question for me was what I could do in order to feel with these political prisoners. What could I do to understand their destiny? How could I show my concern and bring it into public so that more people knew about Kareem? And most important: How can I show those regimes that although there are vast oceans and thousand of miles between them and me I get in on the injustices taking place there? The answer was simple to me.

I sketch and draw since I was a little kid telling stories of my vacations, field trips or of fictional fantasies. Now, at my age of 17, I am politically concerned and I felt that it was lain on my heart to paint Kareem.

I am hoping to study arts after graduating from high school and aspire that then I can reach even more people with my message. There are millions of people who are interested in stories like the one of Kareem, but in our modern age of mass media with advertisements and billboards robbing any free squarefoot of our skies it seems hard to really see what is relevant and what not. Stories of people like Kareem have to be made public in any thinkable way that there is.

I have experienced this during the process of painting Kareem and hope to do so when “Kareem” will be hanging at a local art exhibition this Saturday and Sunday (15th and 16th of December).

Nonetheless, I have a specific view on why it is important to fight for people like Kareem.

As already said before, we can show governments far away that we do not support them (furthermore, feel grievance at the way they act) through the internet and sites like FreeKareem.org.

It is such people like this that do their part for the good fight and you out there that can make a change. If we unite globally, we cannot be defeated. Maybe your contribution is art, writing to Kareem, blogging, or any other way of showing your participation. But, the most important thing is that no matter how minor your contribution may seem at first sight someone in the world may be inspired to take even bigger action. The future is unwritten. And we can write it for the good of people like Kareem who do not experience the same advantages as we do and need support so that they have the feeling that someone out there is listening to them.

Anyone can feel free to contact me. Thank you very much for your interest.

This is an excellent and unique contribution and the Free Kareem Coalition is extremely honored to be sharing Kenneth’s work.

Thank you, dear Kenneth, for your time and dedication to Kareem’s cause and for the willingness to fight this grave injustice which was committed by the Egyptian government! Thank you!

Bahraini activist Mohammed al-Maskati who leads the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights is a personal friend of this campaign’s organizers as well as Kareem Amer. He rallied for Kareem in December when he was first imprisoned without trial and helped make Kareem’s case known throughout the Arab world:

IFEX reports in a recent press release:

Mohammed al-Maskati is a young activist from Bahrain who has fought for human rights across the Arab world, from rallying for jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer to making local media outlets aware of human trafficking activities. Now he is facing serious legal issues that could end his career. Show your support by signing a petition and expressing your outrage through your own organisations, media contacts or blogs.

Al-Maskati, head of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, is currently on trial for running an unregistered NGO. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights and other groups are supporting his case. The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA) says it is just the latest example of the government using judicial measures to silence human rights activists.

APHRA is asking the Bahraini government to drop all charges brought against al-Maskati and to immediately release him. APHRA also invites authorities in Bahrain to revise their laws and regulations to be in accordance with the international conventions signed by Bahrain, including the international covenant on civil and political rights that guarantees the right to free association.

There is a petition for Mohammed here. Please sign it and spread the word.

Journalist Magdy Samaan tells Kareem’s story in his latest article for the Daily Star Egypt:

CAIRO: Without a personal computer and through Internet cafés, 22-year-old Al-Azhar University student Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, known as Kareem Amer, created a blog under the name “Kareem Amer.” The blog focused on criticizing Islam, Al-Azhar education and the President.

During sectarian strife in Alexandria he supported the Copts.

But being unconventionally outspoken in a conservative society had its repercussions, especially that he was a student in the top Islamic educational institution.

[...]

While Amer accuses the prison administration of intentionally targeting him – he was put in solitary detention 65 days before being moved to the political prisoners’ section then to criminal – he says his relations with the fellow inmates are fine. “I avoid any theological discussion because it won’t lead anywhere.”

Amer enjoys the support of many international organizations and movements such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch. A number of activists and bloggers have initiated the “Free Kareem” campaign, whereby they organize demonstrations in front of Egyptian embassies around the world and gather signatures on petitions calling for his release.

Amer didn’t garner the same level of support on a local level.

“Solidarity with Kareem is the basic solidarity with freedom of expression – a right granted for all regardless whether you agree or disagree with their ideas,” said Taha, who’s currently appealing a prison sentence she received for making a documentary about police torture in Egypt.

Negm conveyed, however, Egyptian bloggers’ support to Amer.

“Although I disagree with Kareem regarding his ideology and the means of expression but I think that the only response to opinions are opinions not oppression and limiting freedoms,” Negm said.

“I don’t have a problem with Kareem criticizing my faith, because it isn’t weak faith,” she added. “I think the main reason for imprisoning him is attacking the President. If the government penalizes religious contempt why would it allow websites that express contempt of Christianity? Isn’t Christianity also a religion?”

Read the full article here.

The 16th Reporters Without Borders – Fondation de France prize awarded today [5th of December] in Paris:

The young Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer is the laureate in the Cyber-dissident category. The 23-year-old was sentenced to four years in jail for criticism posted on his blog of President Hosni Mubarak and of the Islamist grip on the country’s universities.

Read full report here.

This news has been featured in Le Monde, France’s most prominent newspaper:

RSF récompense le blogueur égyptien Kareem Ader, emprisonné pour quatre ans

Premier blogueur jugé et condamné en Egypte pour ses écrits, le jeune Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, plus connu sous le nom de Kareem Amer, a reçu le prix “Reporters sans frontières (RSF) – Fondation de France” pour l’année 2007 dans la catégorie “cyberdissident”, mercredi 5 décembre.

Read full news article here.

The Christian Science Monitor also reports:

RSF’s cyberdissident laureate was Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil, sentenced in February to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The 23-year-old former student at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, who used the blogger name Kareem Amer, sharply criticized conservative Muslims in his blog. His lawyers allege he is being held in solitary confinement and tortured in prison.

Read full article here.

Heise online also contributed a special report on the RSF award ceremony:

Egyptian blogger receives human rights prize:

In Paris, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was awarded this year’s Human Rights Prize in the category “Internet dissident” by Reporters without Borders and “Fondation de France”. In February, Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, as he is called in real life, was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for publicly criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and the way the country’s universities are strictly operated according to Islam. In his weblog, Amer showed how Mubarak put pressure on religious leaders to support him.

[...]

As Reporters without Borders puts it, the prizes are awarded to those who make a special contribution to freedom of the press and human rights. Each of the four prizes in the categories of journalists, Internet dissident, medium, and organization, include 2500 euros.

Read the full article here.

Read HRINFO’s press release [Arabic] here.

Rawda, Kareem’s lawyer, traveled to France to get the prize on behalf of Kareem.