A Free Kareem protest was held in Greece in front of the Egyptian Embassy, where the protesters were unfortunately assaulted by the embassy’s guards.

This protest would have not been possible without the organization and support of Fotis Perlikos, who also sent us these photos. Thank you Fotis and to everyone who attended this protest for your continued support of freedom of speech!

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.

A rally took place for Kareem today in Washington, DC, as reported earlier here. Below is a video:

We’d like to thank our friends at Bureaucrash for making this rally possible, and for their consistent support for Kareem! Washington, DC has always been a strategic location to hold a Free Kareem rally as the U.S government continues to fund Mubarak’s dictatorship despite being aware of the massive human rights violations that take place under his rule. Indeed, we all must correct this injustice!

A small group of supporters met in front of the Egyptian Embassy, Elfenauweg 61, in Bern, Switzerland, on November 6, 2009 to protest against the imprisonment of Kareem Amer, calling for his release after his third year in prison. Nobody from the Embassy dared to go out and speak with the participants. Only a curtain moved inside the building. The Swiss police on duty was handed an envelope containing a message for the embassador asking for Kareem’s release.

Here are some pictures.

We would like to thank longtime Free Kareem supporter Maryvonne for her assistance, her efforts, courage, and constant willingness to help out. We know that our friend Kareem is extremely appreciative of these efforts which will never go forgotten. Thank you Maryvonne!

Rallies for Kareem around the world went great. Here’s an animiated short of it:

Andrew Gimber did a great job organizing a Free Kareem rally in London, despite the short notice! We are truly grateful for the support he and fellow rally participants gathered as well as their commitment to spread awareness on Kareem’s case. Thanks Andew again for your involvement, and for everyone else who helped out and participated in this rally! Your efforts will not go unnoticed.

Some photos and a summary of the event (cross-posted from the Oxford Libertarian Society Blog) are below:

Last Thursday afternoon, student representatives from Oxford, UCL and the LSE converged on the Egyptian Embassy in London to protest the continued imprisonment of Kareem Amer.

As officials scurried between their cars and the Embassy, they were greeted not only by the London drizzle but also by defiant chants of “Free Kareem!” We also caught the attention of the staff working on the upper floors of the Embassy, who didn’t seem to appreciate the vocal aspect of our protest.

Unlike last year, no officials came out to speak to us, but a young man from the adjacent office came over to ask who Kareem was. He seemed nervous, as if afraid to be seen talking to us. After we explained to him what we were protesting about, he expressed sympathy for Kareem’s plight, but was (quite understandably) reluctant to sign our petition. A sad reminder of the shadow of fear cast by the Egyptian government, even over its own employees.

A couple of passers-by stopped to ask about Kareem’s case, and kindly added their names to the petition. At the end of the rally, we attempted to deliver our petition (with 51 names) to a member of Embassy staff, hoping to discuss Kareem’s case. We tried at the entrance at 26 South Street, but the man who opened the door resisted our attempts to hand him the petition as if it were a live cobra. We got a very similar reaction at the entrance round the corner on South Audley Street, so in the end we had to settle for posting our petition through the letterbox.

Many thanks to everyone who attended this year’s protest, and to those who contributed to the petition. I hope to see as many people as possible at the next rally.

Great job everyone!

When we first announced our worldwide rallies, the Stockholm rally was the first to be confirmed. Jonas Virdalm, the rally’s organizer, never failed to support us in any of our worldwide rallies and manages to get the support and participation of some great rally speakers, all quoted below in Jonas’ summary of the event (pictures will soon follow) (pictures are below):

There were three speakers at the demonstration for Kareem in Stockholm. They were Hans Egnell, editor of the magasine Nyliberalen, Mattias Svensson, editor of Magasinet Neo, and Frida Johansson Metso, chairman of the Liberal Ungdosmförbundet (Organisation of young liberals).

Below are what the three speakers wanted to highlight in their speeches.

Speaker Hans Egnell emphasized that “Regimes try to censor the Internet to get control over something that cannot be controlled. This makes the authorities frustrated. It also shows the low self esteem of these oppressing regimes. The Egyptian regime got so frightened by the words of one blogger that they accussed him of trying to overthrow the government and claimed that he was a threat to national security! If anything, that shows that WORDS can scare the people in power and that WORDS can change the world to the better.”

Mattias Svensson said that “Kareem is not in prison because he is a criminal. He is in prison because the government in his country is criminal. He is in prison because his government has violated his fundamental right to express his thoughts. We have gathered here in Stockholm in support of Kareem because the right to speak one’s mind is a universal right for everyone. This thought can neither be stopped by boarders nor be locked in a den. There is no den anywhere on earth that it is so dark that it cannot be reached by enlightenment. Our speeches, our thoughts and our sympathy belongs to Kareem during his troublesome time just because freedom is a universal right.”

Finally, Frida Johansson Metso stated that “What Kareem has done is necessary in order for Egypt to become a democracy and to develope. However, in order for this to happen it is as necessary for those of us who know what is happening, and for that reason have a responsibility to act, even when things like this happen outside Sweden and to other than Swedish citizens. Humans rights are worth nothing unless they are protected for all, by all, all the time.

These are wise and powerful words that the Egyptian government needs to learn and practice! Our thanks go out to everyone who attended this rally and made it the successful event that it was in sending a crucial message to Egypt about Kareem and the importance of his freedom, and what that freedom means to all of us. We sincerely thank Jonas Virdalm for also organizing this and keeping us updated about how it went!

Edit:  Jonas had just sent us the pictures, here they are!

A wonderful committed supporter of Kareem in Switzerland, Maryvonne Chartier-Raymond, had organized this on the Free Kareem rally day despite some challenges. We thank Maryvonne for all her hard work for Kareem! And especially thank the cute child who participated in the event!

Here are some pictures, and a note from the organizer.

The rally for Kareem took place in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland as planned. A small group of persons with one of our youngest supporters of Kareem, was there holding posters in English, French and German. A letter asking for the immediate liberation of Kareem was handed to an employee of the embassy who promised to give it to the person in charge.

Thank you so much, Maryvonne, for making this possible!

IUF Berlin, who also organized our previous rally in Germany [video], assisted us once again with this important rally for Kareem. Here is a video:

And a picture:

We sincerely thank everyone at IUF for making this possible! We are incredibly grateful for their constant support.

A great friend in San Francisco got involved within a day of hearing this news and managed to put something together in the very last minute for Kareem’s sake and the general cause of freedom of speech. She made great posters and stood in front of the Egyptian Consulate in San Francisco, California. We are extremely appreciative of her support! Here are some pictures: