Egypt blogger jailed for 'insult'

Abdel Kareem Soliman

Soliman was arrested for his "insulting" blog posts in November
An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president.

Abdel Kareem Soliman's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt.

He had used his web log to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.

A human rights group called the verdict "very tough" and a "strong message" to Egypt's thousands of bloggers.

Soliman, 22, was tried in his native city of Alexandria. He blogs under the name Kareem Amer.

A former student at al-Azhar, he called the institution "the university of terrorism" and accused it of suppressing free thought.

The university expelled him in 2006 and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial.

'Slap in the face'

During the five-minute court session the judge said Soliman was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak.

Egypt arrested a number of bloggers who had been critical of the government during 2006, but they were all subsequently freed.

Hafiz Abou Saada of the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation called the sentence "a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance".

The UK-based organisation Amnesty International said the ruling was "yet another slap in the face of freedom for expression in Egypt".

Fellow blogger Amr Gharbeia told the BBC it would not stop Egyptian bloggers from expressing opinions as "it is very difficult to control the blogosphere".

There have been no reported comments on the sentence from the Egyptian authorities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6385849.stm




No freedom to blog I guess? Sad, considering Egypt is as liberal as it gets down there.

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quote:

Originally posted by Cyrus King i listen to trance becuase it is beautifully composed like a classical piece of music.... but with beats in it...

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Originally posted by Magnetonium I hardly if ever acknowledge sarcasm from a person I dont know because I ran into serious problems on an undisclosed buying website before.

i just read about this.

this is disgusting. what a backwards country.

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this is it.

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Originally posted by Dopey A former student at al-Azhar, he called the institution "the university of terrorism" and accused it of suppressing free thought.

I guess he was right.

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Originally posted by Sunsnail I guess he was right.

Ditto!
poor guy, but if he would of Blogged about the Evil Jews or Devil West, he would of had a street named after him what a pathetic country

Don't worry, it's very likely we'll loose that civil liberty too. And most of you will be more than willing to give it up when fear compromises your judgement.

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"The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

quote:

blogosphere

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quote:

Originally posted by Cyrus King i listen to trance becuase it is beautifully composed like a classical piece of music.... but with beats in it...

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Originally posted by Magnetonium I hardly if ever acknowledge sarcasm from a person I dont know because I ran into serious problems on an undisclosed buying website before.

This sort of thing happens in the damnedest of places...

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The prosecutor in this case, Daniel Kasaris, allegedly offered DuBois a deal where he would receive misdemeanor charges in exchange for no longer blogging and no longer maintaining contact with Baumgartner.

rest of it...

and here...

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San Francisco independent journalist and video blogger Josh Wolf was arrested yesterday for refusing a federal grand jury’s request to turn over video he shot of a burning police car during last year’s G8 protest.

rest of it

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Originally posted by Lilith This sort of thing happens in the damnedest of places... rest of it... and here... rest of it

Yes, this is a sad thing as well, but several police were attacked and hurt in the SF thing, but I see your point. But to compare this to that is kind of a big lllllllllllllooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg stretch
The Egypt blogger 1.) did not witness a crime. 2.) did not have evidence that could help convict a person or persons that committed a crime 3.) possess evidence that showed the attack on persons and property.
this poor soul was just writing on a internet blog-----
both cases are sad, but if you can get into trouble for blogs or forums, then I know a few that would be sitting in jail right about now. me included. Thank the gods I live in country that is free. .... for now at least.......

Cases are dissimilar, but the end result is, if you piss off the government for posting stuff on the internet or not giving them what they want, you can end up in trouble.

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Originally posted by Lilith Cases are dissimilar, but the end result is, if you piss off the government for posting stuff on the internet or not giving them what they want, you can end up in trouble.

or worse yet, have a slightly over weight Hispanic who works nights track you down and send a few Treasury Dept. Elliot Ness wanna be's to your door and audit your ass. ha ha ha ha

having a badge and a 10 key adding machine, so macho!!! ha ha ha

Wrong country!
Besides, I've been audited 4 times in the last 6years so it's not like they frighten me.

I'm going to buy ice cream
Probably chocolate

and I'm not going to share it!

Yes u are right but this is against political and governmental counciles

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Originally posted by LazFX Ditto! poor guy, but if he would of Blogged about the Evil Jews or Devil West, he would of had a street named after him what a pathetic country

Sarcistic and awkard