Many thanks to our good friends at the Liberal Alliance who helped us by rallying for Kareem’s cause and the cause of human rights in general!
A rally was held in front of the Egyptian embassy in Athens where a petition for Kareem’s release was handed to the ambassador.
Special thanks to Fotis Perlikos for organizing the rally as well as providing us with pictures. Thank you so much!
Blogosfere, an Italian network of 150 blogs of professional information, has created an excellent video of still photos taken during the February 15 rallies in Rome and London:
A couple of pictures from Rome with thanks to Alberto:
Among those present in the rally were Italian politician Daniele Capezzone and Senator Francisco Compagna.
You can see Blogosfere’s translated posts that are dedicated to Kareem and the rally here, here, here, here, and here. Thank you for standing with fellow blogger Kareem.
Other Rallies Held Worldwide on Free Kareem Day:
- Paris
- London
- New York City
- Washington, D.C.
Much thanks to Constantino and Chris for holding a second rally on February 15th in The Big Apple (the first was on January 31st):
The NYC rally was a little smaller than last time. The weather was horrible, and the condition of the streets dreadful (piles of dirty snow everywhere, melting into a nasty, muddy slush), so no one really wanted to be out on the street that day. Still, we were able to distribute about 100 fliers with information about Kareem, and asking people to visit www.FreeKareem.org and sign the petitions.
The people at the Mission came out to get fliers from us and ask why we were there. We were just a block away from the UN, and it was right around closing time, so most of those 100 fliers went to foreign workers and diplomats. Several showed interest and thanked us for calling attention to this.
And without further delay: Pictures!
Well done, Soldiers of Truth. I salute you all.
Other Rallies Held Worldwide on Free Kareem Day:
- Paris
- London
- Rome
- Washington, D.C.
The February 15 London rally organizer, Andrew Perraut, reports on the event with positive news:
I’m happy to report that it went very well. We had fewer people than expected, but it was a good group, with representatives from LSE, Amnesty International, the Institute for Economic Affairs, and the International Policy Network. We also attracted a writer for the Index on Censorship–he tells me that they are watching Kareem’s case very closely and are considering naming his as one of the most important cases of the year. There was also a documentary filmmaker who has produced a piece on Egyptian bloggers; she hopes to have segments including our rally aired on BBC 4.
We handed out quite a few fliers and got support from some of the people passing by. Our group was directly across from the Embassy and looking into their windows, which they quickly closed. Still, people from the inside were watching us through the curtains almost constantly, and one woman from the Embassy came outside to take some of our fliers. I’ve attached some pictures of the rally for you to see.
And here are the pictures, with thanks to Andrew and Blogosfere:
UPDATE (February 20, 2007):
Blogosfere has created an excellent video of still photos taken during the February 15 rallies in Rome and London:
Other Rallies Held Worldwide on Free Kareem Day:
- Paris
- New York City
- Rome
- Washington, D.C.
Liberté Chérie, a libertarian federation of associations based in France, reported the on the success of their Paris rally on Free Kareem Day:
The manifestation for Kareem took place as expected on Thursday at noon, despite the fact [that] the Ministère de l’Intérieur was a bit reluctant at letting us approach too close to the Egyptian embassy. But the policemen were on our side, so all diplomatic vehicles in the vicinity got a “Free Kareem” leaflet for meditation.
One hundred full-size posters were stuck on the walls near the Place de l’Etoile / Arc de Triomphe (with adhesive tape on Kareem’s mouth, as a symbol). An Iranian girl and two Egyptians we met in the street even helped us distribute our leaflets!
Photos:
Merci beaucoup, Liberté Chérie!
Other Rallies Held Worldwide on Free Kareem Day:
- London
- New York City
- Rome
- Washington, D.C.
