The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reports on the third failed attempt to visit Kareem on in Borg al-Arab prison since May 2009. Despite obtaining all the necessary permits from the General Attorney’s office, the ANHRI lawyers were denied access to Kareem on July 16. On July 6, reporter Magdi Samaan who traveled to see Karim was not allowed to see him. During their wait in the prison, the lawyers noticed people, who were deemed “VIP” by the prison personnel, who were allowed to visit prisoners despite not having the official permits.

The lawyers were able to bribe a guard with a significant amount of money so they can receive a letter from Kareem. In his letter to the lawyers, Kareem describes how he glanced at the prison log book and was able to see that it said that he was the one who refused to meet with Samaan. Except for this clear fabrication, Kareem has been accused of being “multi-religious” by the prison guards and in the past, tortured. Based on this dangerous pattern, the ANHRI voiced their concern about Kareem’s safety. We at FreeKareem.org join this call.

Kareem is not free yet, despite him being in prison for more than 3 years, but it is NEVER late for you to continue your support for him by downloading and putting this plugin of support on your WordPress blog if you have one:

Free Kareem WordPress Plugin

If you do not have a WordPress blog, you may simply choose to generate a widget and place it on your site:

Widget Generator for Innocent Prisoners

Please continue your support for Kareem!

Today, Kareem spends his 25th birthday in prison. The third birthday which he spends alone behind bars. We have recently sent a mailing list alerting people of his birthday and requesting that they send him letters and postcards of support – we hope that you will do the same! You may find Kareem’s prison address here.

A number of Representatives just sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he pressures Egyptian President Mubarak to release Kareem. A copy of this letter found below:

Several friends of Kareem as well as his lawyers attempted to visit him recently but with no success. We are seriously concerned for his safety and demand that the Egyptian government intervenes by ensuring he is at least being treated decently with rights to see and communicate with visitors. We are unaware of whether or not latest letters from his supporters are reaching him, as several of them claim they’ve had no response despite previous communication with Kareem.

It’s bad enough that Egypt has insisted on keeping him imprisoned for the “crime” of practicing free speech on the internet, but the harsh treatment is unacceptable and will surely create further international outrage at the real crime, which is imprisoning and torturing an innocent blogger, a crime that the Egyptian government has refused to correct while toying with a young man’s life.