Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Sulaiman [1] made history today by being the first Egyptian to be sentenced to jail for articles he wrote on his personal blog [2].
An Alexandria court found him guilty of insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [3] and sentenced him to four years in jail based on his writings on the Internet, according to media [4]reports.
A blog set up by supporters just announced the following:
Dalia Ziada, a human rights activist and blogger, informs us that Kareem is sentenced to FOUR years in prison: three years for contempt to religion, and one year for defaming the president.
His appeal will be launched on Saturday by his lawyers, but we are told that it won’t do much. Hopefully it will shorten the sentence.
This is bad news for all of us, and we’d just like you all to know that this fight for his freedom will still continue until he is freed.
Global Voices had earlier covered Sulaiman's ordeal here [5], here [6] and here [7].
Charges cited against Sulaiman, who has been in detention since early November awaiting trial, included: incitement to hate Islam, spreading malicious rumours that disrupt public security and defaming the Egyptian President.
Fellow blogger and Bahraini activist Esra'a was lost for words when she heard about her friend's fate [8].
“My friend Kareem has been sentenced to 4 years in prison. 3 years for his stance against Islam and 1 year for ‘defaming the President.’
I have nothing further to say. I don’t know whether to cry or to kick something in anger….He really doesn’t deserve this,” she writes in anguish.
Stay tuned.. more reactions to come…