MEDIA: EGYPT, BLOGGER BEATEN IN PRISON,
RSF (ANSAmed) – CAIRO, NOVEMBER 20 -

A young Egyptian sentenced to four years of imprisonment for an offence against Islam and against President Hosni Mubarak in his blog has been beaten in prison and put into an isolated cell, the organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced today. Abdel Karim Suleiman, a former law student, became in February this year the first case of a sentence in Egypt for having expressed on the Internet his opinions in eight articles written since 2004. RSF said that Suleiman had written in a letter from the prison that he was arrested, beaten and put into an isolated cell with scarce food and water. “I was subjected to a crude, non-humane and degrading treatment,” he denounced in a letter cited by the Paris-based organisation. RSF requested the release of Suleiman, known also as Kareem Amer, detained in the prison of Borg el Arab, near Alexandria. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, which represents Suleiman, affirms in a declaration that a prison guard and another prisoner have beaten the young person, knocking one of his teeth out. In one of the incriminated articles, Suleiman, a moderate Muslim, accused Azhar, the highest instance in Sunni Islam, of propagating extremism. Internet is one of the few means to express disagreement in Egypt, where almost all information organs are controlled by the Government and under a constant threat of repressions. Numerous journalists are on trial for having “offended” Mubarak, under poor health conditions, according to rumours. (ANSAmed).
2007-11-20 18:43

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simultaneous rallies for the same cause makes a compelling story for journalists to write about.

Exactly! If you want to get attention, be newsworthy. Keep raising you voice until you’re loud enough to be heard.

There have been op-eds published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, the Associated Press and a few others about Kareem, especially when he was officially sentenced in late February. This is mostly thanks to the many people who helped blog about him.

The problem is that both the media and the international blogosphere tend to forget he ever existed once the hype dies down. This is why we’re using the strategy of worldwide rallies to help keep him in our sight and in our minds, and because simultaneous rallies for the same cause makes a compelling story for journalists to write about.

We’d appreciate any help you can give us in generating worldwide concern and support for Kareem.

I have followed the trial of Kareem only a small amount. Here in the States it has received very little coverage, which amazes me. This case should be on frontpages and at the top of the list at all broadcast news programs. This is supposed to be an issue that Americans are deeply concerned about, and yet our media gives it at best a cursory glance, and moves on to the latest celebrity gossip and political money scandal.

I am going to write an article about Kareem and your efforts to free him. I hope you will allow me to link to your multiple articles, and further hope you get some new traffic from this.

Contrary to popular believe there are many conservative Americans who feel quite strongly about freedom of thought and expression. The problem is lack of in depth coverage by our media, the internet is changing that, slowly but surely.

I support the Free Kareem initiative and I am really happy to see how successful it’s been. A year later and the message is still strong. I am positive that Egypt is listening.

Thanks for having enough courage to do this Miriam.