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Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, 22-year-old Egyptian blogger and former law student, has been convicted of insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. The charges arose from his online writing.
Rights groups and opposition bloggers have watched Suleiman's case closely, and said they feared a conviction could set a legal precedent limiting Internet freedom in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country.
The London-based rights group Amnesty International said in a statement: "This is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt." The group considers Suleiman to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully expressing his opinion, the statement added.
The Paris-based press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders said the sentence was "a disgrace" and the United Nations should respond by disqualifying Egypt from hosting an Internet Governance Forum in 2009.
Egyptian media are dominated by state-run news outlets, and the internet has emerged as the freest arena for expression of anti-government opinions. The verdict presents an obvious threat to online freedom of speech in Egypt.
As a defiant response to the verdict and sentence, Index on Censorship announced that Kareem has been nominated for this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards, given annually to people and organisations that have made a significant contribution to freedom of expression. The awards will be given in London on 14 March.
Visit Free Kareem! for more news and information.
h/t: Global Voices Online
Previous related posts:
[...] Egypts internet users targeted through Kareem By StatGuy Egyptian blogger Kareem Suleiman’s four-year prison term for insulting both Islam and President Hosni Mubarak has been upheld on appeal. Reporters sans frontières/Reporters Without Borders today issued a statement condemning the decision and pointing out its ominous implications. “All of Egypt’s Internet users are being targeted through Suleiman,” the press freedom organisation said. “A threat is now hanging over their heads. We fear that other arrests and website closures could soon take place as the authorities seem to have decided to bring Internet users into line.” [...]