Latest coverage of Kareem: Democratic Forces Face Tough Time in Egypt’s Coming Election.

Egypt Waging War on Bloggers:

And, referring to a blogger who was sentenced to a four-year jail sentence for calling President Hosni Mubarak a “symbol of dictatorship,” and Al-Azhar University a “university of terror,” prosecutor Mohammed Dawud warned, “If we let people like him off without punishment, a wildfire will blaze up that consumes everything in its path.” He added, “Exactly that is what civil rights activists dream of, many of whom pin their hopes on a grass-roots digital democratization initiated by the country’s bloggers.”

Harassment of bloggers has increased year by year since then. For example:

In 2007, blogger Kareem Amer, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt’s al-Azhar religious authorities on his blog.

Below is a list of news coverage mentioning Kareem throughout the year 2010 thus far:

Egypt blogger military trial criticised

Virtually, Some Real Freedom

Egypt: Pledge Serious Human Rights Reform

Blogs mark the first 10 years

Egypt and Libya: A Year of Serious Abuses

It’s official: Blogging is a dangerous business

A barometer of religious intolerance

Foreign languages:

Egypte: Le blogueur “Kareem Amer” condamné à quatre ans de prison

Kolejny bloger przed egipskim sądem

Vários países estão a prender jornalistas on-line e autores de blogues

Arabiske blogs giver unge stemme

Dans le même pays

Egitto conferma la lotta ai blogger

Blogger Mesir Disidang di Mahkamah Militer

El Periódico del Pueblo Oriental

IUF Berlin, who also organized two previous rallies in Germany (rally 2; rally 1 pictures, rally 1 video), assisted us once again with an “undercover” campaign for Kareem.

A grand ball was held at the Interconti Berlin, under the patronage of the Egyptian Ambassador to Germany, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy. Members of the IUF managed to get into the lobby of the event location and handed out several hundred buttons to the ball guests who entered the hotel. The buttons were pinned to dresses and jackets and read in Arabic: “We are all with Kareem Amer”. In the ballroom, the Egyptian Ambassador along with embassy staff and Egyptian businessmen were able to read this friendly reminder that Kareem is not forgotten by his friends and supporters.

A petition was handed to a guest who entered the ballroom, which could only be accessed by invited guests, with the request to deliver the petition to the Ambassador.

Petition.

Here are the pictures, a video will also be added later.

The entrance to the Interconti Hotel, note the pyramidal shape of the lobby....

Approaching the entrance to the hotel

Entering the lobby

In the lobby

Successfully handing out the first buttons to the guests

Slightly hesitant in pointing out the best spot to pin on the button

The pins

Pin sample

The main ball-room

The dance

A first newspaper report after the ball

A video will be available later!

Yesterday, the 22nd of February, it has been exactly three years since Kareem Amer was sentenced to 4 years in prison. On this occasion, a Free Kareem rally took place in Washington, DC to condemn for the 8th time (via a rally) our disapproval and disappointment with Egypt’s decision to keep Kareem imprisoned despite the bogus charges against him.

Below is a video of the event:

If you tweet this, remember to use the hashtag #FreeKareem. Don’t give up on him! Kareem must be freed immediately.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have issued the following press release on Kareem:

Reporters Without Borders deplores the way the authorities continue to persecute Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, a jailed blogger better known by the pen-name of Kareem Amer. For the third time in a row, one of his lawyers has been denied the right to visit him in Borg Al Arab prison although he had the required permits from the Alexandria attorney-general’s office.

The lawyer, Ahmed Omar, one of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information’s lawyer (ANHRI), was told on arrival at the prison on 10 January that the security services had imposed a permanent ban on visits for the blogger. The ANHRI filed a complaint with the Cairo prosecutor’s office in May 2009 after the first refusal, but no investigation was carried out.

Reporters Without Borders is very worried about the conditions in which Kareem Amer is being held and his physical and psychological health. Imprisoned since November 2006, he has had no contact with the outside world for the past eight months. Reporters Without Borders intends to request permission to visit him as soon as possible.

On 22 December, a court rejected a request for a retrial for Kareem Amer. Although all further possibilities of appeal have been exhausted, a petition for his release has been filed with an administrative court.

This is not the first time Kareem is forbidden visits by either his lawyers, journalists or his own friends.

Meklit Hadero, an Ethiopian-born musician and 2009 TEDGlobal Fellow, sings a very moving song in support of Kareem:

Thank you so much Meklit! If you’re on Twitter, please take a moment to send a personal shout out to Meklit @meklithadero for joining the struggle to free Kareem Amer.