Throughout the gloominess of the prison walls, there was also a lustrous ray of hope of those who were by my side; expressing solidarity with me and supporting me during my ordeal. Whether they shared the same views with me or not, they all believed in the cause: Freedom of speech for all, regardless differences and orientations. I really can’t thank them enough!

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I wish for you the best in your lives and careers. I owe you all a big debt of gratitude, which I’ll keep eternally, and never forget the noble and genuine support I’ve received.

I’d like to deeply thank some of the unknown soldiers, who gave all they had to support me through the hard times. This is less than what they truly deserve, and even the least thing I can do for them in return.

Those unknown soldiers are, in no specific order and please forgive me if I forgot anyone because I’m overwhelmed at the moment, Shahinaz Abdel Salam, the brave activist and blogger who visited me many times in the prison but was blocked afterwards like many others, Dalia Ziada, my dear friend who has done her best supporting me although her letters were blocked also, Esra’a Al Shafei, the Bahraini activist and blogger, and the director and founder of FreeKareem.org, and especially to all the editors of FreeKareem.org.

Those, and many others, have endured extraordinary efforts for me, and they’ve succeeded in spreading my voice worldwide.

To all of them; I’m grateful, and I’ll never forget your favour for the rest of my life.

Kareem Amer

27^th of November 2010

Cairo

Update: Below is a message from Shahinaz Abdel Salam, without whose support, the Free Kareem Campaign would not have been what it is today.

To all supporters,

Your letters to Kareem were giving him hope, and making him feel that he was far from alone in the desert prison of Borg Al Arab. Your constant support and demonstrations in front of Egyptian Embassies worldwide protected Kareem, and made those thugs of the Mubarak regime realize that the world stood by him, and that he was never alone. In my letters to Kareem, and during all of my visits, I have always mentioned to him your support and all the efforts that you made for this important cause.

Thank you all!

Shahinaz Abdel Salam
Activist & Blogger

P.S. The original Arabic letter of Kareem Amer can be found here.

* Photographed by Marwa Rakha.

There’s a worldwide media attention, which we would like to double its effect by sending letters to whoever may concern during this crucial time, as Kareem needs our efforts more than any time else. Every bit of effort counts.

Our four-year struggle to release Kareem mounts this week, so we want to make sure that we knock every possible door. Hence, we’re calling for all the activists and bloggers out there to send 3 letters; one to the Egyptian government officials, the other to the Egyptian ambassador or consul in your country, and the third to the your local minister of foreign affairs.

Contacts of Egyptian officials and diplomats can be found here. Alternatively you can write to your local Egyptian Embassy which you’ll find their contact info here

Kareem’s life is in real danger, and the situation is horribly serious. So any kind of help counts to raise public and international media awareness.

A friend from Sweden has sent 2 letters, one to the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the other to the Egyptian Embassy in Sweden. Here is what Niklas Smith has sent to the Egyptian ambassador in the Kingdom of Sweden, as a great and a comprehensive example of what we’re calling you to do as soon as possible:

Her Excellency Samah Mohamed Sotohy Sarhan
The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Egyptens ambassad
Box 14230
10440 Stockholm

cc. Carl Bildt, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Sweden

11 November 2010

Your Excellency,

Your fellow citizen Mr Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment as a result of his writings on the Internet. His sentence has ended and he was due to be released from Borg Al-Arab Prison in Alexandria on Friday 5 November. However, I have heard through several media reports that he has not been released. Instead he has been taken to the Alexandria headquarters of State Security Intelligence. His lawyer told Al Jazeera that Mr Suleiman has still not been released and was beaten by a junior SSI officer on Tuesday night.

Regardless of the justice of Mr Suleiman’s original sentence, he has served his time in prison. I would like to ask for him to be released immediately, as his continued imprisonment is clearly illegal. Please contact the Minister of the Interior or the responsible official to ask for Mr Suleiman’s immediate release. And please also ask that his alleged mistreatment in SSI
headquarters be independently investigated.

I look forward to hearing that Mr Suleiman has been released and can start to rebuild his life
after spending almost one sixth of it behind bars.

Yours sincerely,
Niklas Smith

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Flood the Jail with Mail

A few months ago the campaign was a success, with many letters being sent to Kareem on a daily basis for an entire month, but this is needed now more than ever! Kareem has expressed his support for this initiative. He needs the worldwide support and recognition for his own safety. Please consider taking part in this campaign, which you can read about here.

Here is Kareem’s address in prison:

Prisoner Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman
Borg Al-Arab Prison
Section 10, Room 22
Alexandria
The Arab Republic of Egypt

You must include the Arabic text in the letter as well:

Sending him messages and postcards by snail-mail is very important, not only because it will assuage his pains, but to also tell the government and prison that we are still watching.

This is not a requirement – but we suggest that you laminate your letters/cards for them not to be ripped up.

He is waiting for the decision on the 22nd of December, and he still has hope that he may get released after this upcoming and final appeal. He wishes to be free and that people don’t forget him in these days.

Kareem’s lawyer tried to visit him, but was actually rejected from meeting Kareem twice this year even though she had a written permission to do so.

He adds that his case was presented to a State Security committee with other prisoners who completed 3/4 of their sentence, and that the state security officials who refused to release him are the same ones who are rejecting visitiors to Kareem. This is a punishment of its own merely because of Kareem’s views and published articles, rejected by the regime and extremists alike.

Please, we ask you all to write to Kareem and let him know that he’s far from alone in this struggle. Please let him know that you’ll be there for him and ready to fight back if his final appeal tomorrow is rejected.

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.]

We are reprinting this letter with permission:

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.

Dear Mr. President,

The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the relentless campaign of persecution against Internet journalists and bloggers by Egypt’s various security services. Regrettably, the routine harassment and detention of bloggers, according to CPJ research, is only one element of an overall decline in press freedom in Egypt in recent years. In 2007, CPJ concluded that Egypt was among the 10 worst backsliders in terms of press freedom worldwide, due to a massive number of legal proceedings being launched against critical journalists. Since then, this trend has continued unabated with hundreds of lawsuits, criminal complaints, and summonses being issued against editors, reporters, bloggers, and free expression advocates.

[...]

CPJ research also shows that at least three bloggers remain in administrative detention, held without charge under the Emergency Law, or are serving prison sentences.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, widely known as Karim Amer, was arrested in November 2006 for writing critical articles about prominent religious figures and the president of the republic. He was convicted in February 2007 of insulting religion and the president, and is currently serving a four-year jail term for both charges. He is the only Egyptian blogger to ever be convicted for his online writings. Since then Amer has been mistreated in prison. In November 2007 he was severely beaten by another prisoner and a guard, according to his lawyer and to multiple local human rights groups. He was prevented from documenting his injuries in a medical report, local human rights organizations widely reported. In August 2008, he was prevented from leaving his cell and exercising in a courtyard like other prisoners. Around the same time, some of Amer’s books and other reading materials were arbitrarily confiscated. Lawyers at ANHRI told CPJ that they filed an appeal as soon as Amer was convicted, but that the authorities have failed to consider it two years into his four-year prison term. Legal experts in Egypt told CPJ that such appeals are usually processed within six months.

Read the full letter here.

I got a letter from Kareem today. He is fine and again would like to thank everyone for what they are doing to help free him. He’s waiting for the day he’d be released from prison and hopes that by next November, when he’d have spent the majority of his time in prison, the government may be able to release him. He is hopeful.

Kareem writes:

Prison has become a part of my imagination. I don’t remember how life was before my imprisonment and how people look like outside.

Shahinaz, Kareem’s friend and one of his frequent visitors, adds:

I wrote to him and reassured him that we are all supporting him and we’ll continue our campaign to protect him during his detention.

Any requests to free Kareem has been refused despite other prisoners being discharged.

Please write to him and express your support and solidarity.