An article that appeared in the Washington Post recently makes a brief mention of Kareem.

The U.N.’s New Censor:

Even if Mr. Hosni’s supporters succeed in cajoling or coercing pro-Israel groups to back their man, he would remain as suitable to lead Unesco as a Cairene cat would be to guard a stew. Try convincing jailed blogger Kareem Nabil Soliman, or blackballed satirist Ali Salem, or chronically harassed activist Wael Abbas, that Mr. Hosni’s brand of cultural preservation should be exported throughout the world.

Read the full article here.

The verdict on Kareem’s final appeal (previously reported here), which was expected today, was postponed by the judge considering the appeal to September 15th.
We will keep our readers updated when any new information comes in.

We have just been informed that the judge will report the decision tomorrow concerning Kareem’s case. This is still developing news and we will keep you updated on what happens, or what time the decision is set to be announced. In the meantime keep your hopes high for Kareem.

Later today (Monday) at 10am, Kareem’s final appeal will take place and Rawda Ahmed, his lawyer, will be there to hear the final decision.

We sincerely hope that the Egyptian government will do what they should have done over 3 years ago and conclude this tragedy by FREEING KAREEM.

Considering the amount of death threats Kareem has received both online and offline, his security will still be at risk and your support will be extremely crucial in keeping him safe regardless of the decision that takes place tomorrow morning.

An article mentionning Kareem Amer written by Clément Thiriau was published in Le Petit Journal on July17 2009. (in French) with the title « Malgré la presse privée et d’opposition, l’information reste très contrôlée » (Despite private and opposition press, information remains under tight control).

The article emphasizes the fact that pressures from the state jeopardize the press. Despite the long history of its numerous publications (with more than 500 titles, the most in the region) Egypt appeared in a « difficult situation » as ranking 146th on a list of 173 countries in the last Reporters Without Border classification about freedom of the press. Since january 2009 according to RWB, an average of a complaint a day is registered against a journalist or a blogger.

Though officially unconstitutionnal, censure is raging owing to the state of emergency. The main newspapers are in the hands of friends of the government. Free opposion press and independant press are mostly printed abroad and submitted to the censorship of foreign publications.

Thus internet became the space for freedom of expression. 20% of the Egyptian population is regularly surfing. But since 2007 the net is tightening. The blogger Kareem Amer became the symbol of repression on the Web. A law project is being discussed on creating emprisonnement sentences for « abusive use of internet ». Many bloggers have been arrested following the movements of the 6th of April. Several bloggers have been questionned and/or arrested at Cairo airport.

For the 4th time in a row, Reporters Without Borders has classified Egypt as one of the 12 countries qualified as « internet ennemies».

You can also read the whole report of Reporters without borders here.

Here is its first paragraph:

“The 12 ‘Enemies of the Internet’ – Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – have all transformed their Internet into an Intranet in order to prevent their population from accessing ‘undesirable’ online information,” Reporters Without Borders said.