Our great thanks goes to Nicola Iannello, who in his capacity as a university professor and director of the School of Liberal Thought in Rome, managed to get this great rally together in an effort to free Kareem. Special thanks also go to Annalisa Chirico and Giulia Innocenzi (the 2 wonderful ladies in the first photo) who did a great job gathering people to participate in this rally.

Many thanks to everyone else who joined and made this possible! Two of the protestors were allowed into the Egyptian embassy in order to express their concern for Kareem.

Great pictures of the rally are below (Note: More from the organizers on this Facebook page.)

(Click on each picture for a larger image.)

12 cities around the world are participating (or have participated) in the worldwide Free Kareem demonstrations today.

Here they are:

• Paris, France

• London, UK

• Brussels, Belgium

• Stockholm, Sweden

• Berlin, Germany

• Bucharest, Romania

• Washington, DC, USA

• New York, NY, USA

• Rome, Italy

• Berne, Switzerland

• Rhode Island, USA

• NEW! San Francisco, California

Thanks for everyone who got involved to make this possible! We will be posting the results shortly.

IUF will sponsor a Free Kareem Rally in Berlin in front of the Egyptian Embassy at 12.30pm on the 6th of November.

6. November 12.30 Uhr
Kundgebung für die Freiheit von Kareem Amer
Kundgebung vor der ägyptischen Botschaft in Berlin

Sehr geehrte Frau Wright,

wir möchten Sie herzlich einladen, an diesem Donnerstag, dem 6.11. um 12.30 Uhr, mit uns Ihre Unterstützung für den ägyptischen Blogger Kareem Amer auszudrücken.

Kareem Amer ist ein ägyptischer Autor und Blogger der immer den Mut fand sich für das Recht auf freie Meinungsäusserung einzusetzen. Da er selbst von diesem Recht Gebrauch gemacht hat, ist er zu einer Gefängnisstrafe von vier Jahren verurteilt worden.

Zusammen mit anderen Organisationen und Individuen in vielen Hauptstädten der Welt werden wir gegen die Inhaftierung des ägyptischen Bloggers Kareem Amer protestieren, der für sein Eintreten für Gleichberechtigung, seine Kritik an der Radikalisierung des Islam und der ägyptischen Regierung verurteilt wurde.

Unabhängig davon ob, Sie Kareems Positionen teilen, können wir alle der Meinung sein, dass niemand für das Äußern seiner Meinung inhaftiert werden darf. Wir bitten Sie daher am Donnerstag zwischen 12.30 Uhr – 13.30 Uhr, während Ihrer Mittagszeit mit uns Kareem und das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung zu unterstützen.

Veranstaltungsort
Egyptian Embassy / Ägyptische Botschaft in Berlin
Stauffenberg Str. 6-7
10785 Berlin

Wegbeschreibung über google
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=stauffenbergstr.+Berlin

Routenplaner der Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
BVG

Programm

12.30 Uhr Kundgebung für die Freilassung von Kareem Amer

13.30 Uhr Übergabe der Petition zur Freilassung von Kareem Amer an den Ägyptischen Gesandten

13.40 Uhr Ende der Veranstaltung

Das IUF lädt die Teilnehmer am Donnerstagabend um 19.00 Uhr zu einer informellen Veranstaltung in die Räume des IUF ein.

Bitte beachten Sie, dass für die Teilnahme am Donnerstagmittag, trotz Klimawandel, warme Kleidung von großem Vorteil ist.

A Free Kareem rally will be taking place in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland on Nov. 6 at about 11:00am.

[Bus line 19, stop Willadingweg.]

If you’d like to request for any specific details concerning this rally, please contact the organizer, Maryvonne Chartier-Raymond through chray[at]bluewin.ch

Your attendance at any of the worldwide rallies makes a difference!

We encourage all our supporters in London to participate in the Free Kareem rally there!

An entry about this rally has been posted by Andrew Gimber, the rally’s organizer, at the Oxford Libertarian Society blog. If you have any questions concerning this rally please contact him: andrew[dot]gimber[at]balliol[dot]ac[dot]uk, or simply use our contact form.

In an effort to spread as much awareness as possible about Kareem, students at Roger Williams University will be holding a peaceful rally for him on November 6th at Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island. It will be at 6 or 7PM.

For our dear readers in Romania, please note that there is a Facebook event concerning the rally.

Pe 22 februarie 2007 Kareem Amer, un tânar egiptean a fost condamnat la 4 ani de închisoare pentru “incitare la ură faţă de musulmani”, “defăimarea Preşedintelui Republicii” şi “insulte aduse Islamului”. Toate aceste „crime” au fost comise de Kareem pe blogul personal. Constituţiile majorităţii statelor lumii, inclusiv cea a Egiptului, garantează dreptul la libera exprimare. Cu toate astea, guvernul Egiptului refuză sa respecte drepturile lui Kareem şi să retragă acuzaţiile. De aceea, pe 6 noiembrie, data la care Kareem a fost arestat, se organizează mişcări de protest şi demonstraţii de solidaritate cu tanarul egiptean în toate marile oraşe ale lumii, inclusiv Bucureşti. Vino pe 6 noiembrie în faţa ambasadei Egiptului la Bucureşti la un protest pentru Kareem şi împotriva încălcării dreptului la liberă exprimare.

There is also a new blog for Kareem in Romanian!

The organizers are doing a great job and it’s great to see so many people around the world united and committed to Kareem’s cause.

New York has just been added as a confirmed location in the worldwide demonstrations for Kareem.

The rally will be taking place at the Egyptian Mission to the UN, at the following address:
304 East 44th St. (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
From Noon until 1:30PM!

We encourage everyone in or near New York to participate in this important rally!

View Larger Map

For more information about the rally please contact the organizer Anna Kushner, a director at PEN, of which Kareem is an honorary member of through anna[at]pen.org (replace [at] with @) or simply use our contact form.

[If you are unaware about the worldwide Free Kareem rallies, you may read about it here and here.]

Paris, France: Confirmed
London, UK: Confirmed
Brussels, Belgium: Confirmed
Stockholm, Sweden: Confirmed
Berlin, Germany: Confirmed
Bucharest, Romania: Confirmed
Washington, DC, USA: Confirmed
New York, NY, USA: Confirmed
Rome, Italy: Confirmed
Berne, Switzerland: Confirmed
Rhode Island, USA: Confirmed
Prague, Czech Republic: Being considered
Moscow, Russia: Being considered

We need your help securing more locations! Please get in touch with us for more information.

On November 6th, demonstrators around the world will protest against the continued imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, otherwise known as “Kareem Amer,” a 24-year-old student arrested two years ago for criticizing the Egyptian government on his personal website. Protests will take place in Washington DC, Moscow, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Bucharest, Stockholm, London, and a growing number of cities, in hopes of persuading Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against Mr. Soliman, who has reportedly been tortured in prison. November 6, 2008 marks the completion of Kareem’s second year in prison, and this is the fourth time that demonstrators around the world simultaneously protest in an effort to secure his immediate and unconditional release.

Based solely on his blogposts, Soliman is charged with the alleged crimes of “defaming Egypt’s President, incitement to hate Islam, and highlighting inappropriate aspects that harm the reputation of Egypt.” But members of the Free Kareem Coalition argue that imprisoning Kareem has severely harmed Egypt’s international reputation, and has made millions of people around the world question the country’s supposed commitment to free speech and human rights.

Kareem, the first person prosecuted in Egypt for Internet-based journalism, has stated countless times throughout his writing that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. The Internet has made possible the dissemination of these ideals to a global audience. For that reason, Egyptian officials evidently feel threatened by Kareem and others who, like him, are not afraid to speak their minds.

Several Middle Eastern human rights organizations have expressed concern for his life. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, English PEN and Reporters Without Borders have all strongly condemned his arrest. The roster of government officials who have written the Egyptian government on behalf of justice for Kareem continues to grow.

Media may contact Esra’a Al Shafei, Director of the Free Kareem Coalition, by email at director@freekareem.org. More information can also be obtained at www.FreeKareem.org.