Egypt: Blogger Sentence Upheld

180-200-kareem.jpgAccording to Free Kareem, the Alexandria Court of Appeal today upheld the four-year prison sentence against Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman.

Dalia Ziada, a human rights activist and translator based in Cairo, reports that the Alexandria Appeal Court has upheld the four-year prison sentence against Kareem Amer.
Furthermore, the judge approved a civil claim filed by the eleven lawyers who want to fine Kareem for ‘insulting Islam’.
Kareem’s lawyers will apply for the Court of Cassation (third degree).
Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, a.k.a. Kareem Amer, is in prison because he blogged his personal opinions on the Internet.

Kareem‘s supporters, however, are pleading with sympathisers to help him, through applying more pressure on the Egyptian authorities for his release.

We have compiled a comprehensive list of ways you can help Kareem Amer ..The list includes a letter writing campaign, with addresses of the Egyptian President, Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Ambassadors from more than 50 countries worldwide! We are also providing sample letters and a press kit over the next few days.
Many thanks to everyone who has been sending in suggestions and sample letters.

Among the tactics the group is using to draw attention to Kareem's plight are signing petitions, organising rallies, a donation drive and lobbying against Egypt hosting the United Nations-sponsored Internet Governance Forum in 2009.

Supporters are also calling upon bloggers to write about Kareem and use the Free Kareem logo as well as send letters to “government officials, diplomats, human rights groups, local media outlets, and the United Nations.”

In your letter, please make clear the following:
♦ Condemn the four-year prison sentence placed on Kareem Amer, who was peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression;
♦ Express deep concern at the conditions of Kareem Amer’s detention, and whether he is being treated humanely and given full access to medical care and family visits; and
♦ Urge the Egyptian government to clearly implement the international standards set out by the ICCPR to which the state of Egypt is a signatory and repeal laws violating these standards.

11 comments

  • […] Once again the plight of Egyptian jailed blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman grabs the headlines, along with support pledges from bloggers around the world. […]

  • De Hamera

    Free Kareem Amer – Help bring the world into the 21st Century. Freedom of expression is a human right. If the love and strength are at the heart of Islam than freedom of expression can only inhance it’s respect and help make the world a better place. Egypt is a progressive country and I am surprized that they would imprison someone for expressing their thoughts.

  • john kactuz

    And what did you expect? Egypt is, after all, an Islamic country and Islam is not known for respecting human rights or basic liberties.

    Muslims blame all their problems on others (The West, Israel, the US, Hollywood, colonialism, the crusades, and so on) but never take a hard cold look at the hate, violence and discrimination that is in the heart of their religion. Nor do Muslims dare examine the acts of their prophet, a man who did so many evil things – according to their own writings (hadiths). Perhaps, just maybe, the Quran and hadiths explain why this younbg man must suffer.

    Poor Bareem, he is in for trouble. Even so I bless him and admire his moral stature and courage. All he did was tell the truth, but Islam cannot co-exist with truth and freedom.

    John Kactuz

  • @john kactuz::
    When we speak about Islam and Muslims, we always have such lazy intellectual attitude which allows us to ignore all other important aspect of Muslim countries such as economy, politics, societies, local languages and cultures. When we say “Islam” we remove automatically all those aspects and imagine that we are able to explain, with one single abstract word, the life of more than one billion people, tens of countries, hundreds of local cultures and traditions.

    You may need to read Edward W. Said “Covering Islam” to see how stupid the use of “Islam” in our language can be.

  • Thank you Mr Kactuz for your comments, which show a grave misunderstanding of a great religion which should not be blamed for the vices of those who claim they are Muslim.

    For someone who seems to desperately want us to assume that he is an authority in what he is talking about by mentioning the Hadith and Quran, I too would like to invite you to take a ‘hard cold look’ at the hate filling your heart when it comes to Islam, Muslims and Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him). I don’t know which Islam calls for hate, violence and discrimination but you drive home the saying a little learning is a dangerous thing indeed! Regardless of my personal beliefs and learnings, such hate rhetoric being spewed by anyone against any religion or belief, saddens me.

    From my shallow understanding, Mr Kactuz’ missive was obviously targeted at venting out his blind hatred of Islam and Muslims and in no way was in defence of a blogger – whom he didn’t even have the courtesy of spelling out his name correctly. By the way, the blogger’s name is Kareem, with a K, and not Bareem. To be more accurate, it is Abdulkareem or Kareem, for short.

  • Pingback: MediaChannel.org

    […] supporters, however, are pleading with sympathisers to help him, through applying more pressure on the Egyptian authorities for his release…. READMORE […]

  • FreeThinker

    To American shame, Egypt is the second largest recipient of US foreign aid after Afghanistan. Is it wise to pump a billions a dollars a day into Egypt & Saudi Arabia & the Global Islamic Cesspool in general, and fund their Jihad against us? Certainly the Muslims think so – thank you very much!
    Is this to be the eventual result of our tolerance of this dreadful global cancer called Islam? Sharia law in the West; bloggers thrown into prison or worse, for exercising their right to freedom of speech, and while telling the truth, no less?
    Each new mosque is a tumor to the Free West and brings their dogma to replace our own:
    Qur’an 8:7 “Allah wished to confirm the truth by His words, ‘Wipe the Unbelievers (IE non-Muslims) out to the last.'”

  • […] Last month, on February 22, the Egyptian court sentenced the 22-year-old blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (aka Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for insulting Islam and president Hosni Mubarak on his personal blog. Furthermore, on the March 12, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, head of the Alexandria Appeal Court, upheld Kareem’s four-year prison sentence and prepared to launch a lawsuit to block 21 blogs and websites for “defaming Egypt’s image and insulting the president.” Hossam el-Hamalawy republished on his blog the following message from blogger Amr Gharbeia: The list, 21-websites-long, includes the blogs and sites that took part in the discussion around the book the Judge has written, and the wide plagiarism evident in the book copying HRInfo’s report on Internet Freedoms in the Arab World, and a how-to-blog guide written by blogger Bent Masreya. Of the 21 blogs and website, I was able so far to confirm Kifaya’s and HRInfo’s websites, in addition to the blogs of Bent Masreya, Yehia Megahed, and my own. […]

  • […] Writing for The Arabist, Issandr El Amrani links to an article written by a Muslim Brotherhood author in defence of jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman, who is serving four years for insulting both Islam and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Amira Al Hussaini […]

  • […] Last month, on February 22, the Egyptian court sentenced the 22-year-old blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (aka Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for insulting Islam and president Hosni Mubarak on his personal blog. Furthermore, on the March 12, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, head of the Alexandria Appeal Court, upheld Kareem’s four-year prison sentence and prepared to launch a lawsuit to block 21 blogs and websites for “defaming Egypt’s image and insulting the president.” Hossam el-Hamalawy republished on his blog the following message from blogger Amr Gharbeia: The list, 21-websites-long, includes the blogs and sites that took part in the discussion around the book the Judge has written, and the wide plagiarism evident in the book copying HRInfo’s report on Internet Freedoms in the Arab World, and a how-to-blog guide written by blogger Bent Masreya. Of the 21 blogs and website, I was able so far to confirm Kifaya’s and HRInfo’s websites, in addition to the blogs of Bent Masreya, Yehia Megahed, and my own. […]

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