You can act to help free Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, who has been detained by the Egyptian authorities for writing on his blog. Regardless of whether you agree with his views or not (he is very critical of the Egyptian government and of Islam), please support his right to express his views peacefully. Please sign this petition for his release. It’s easy. If you want to do more, please write a respectful letter to the Egyptian Embassy in your country. Just a minute of your time can help a young man who should not be in prison. Please take that minute. And then ask at least one friend.
Please think of yourself in a prison cell and how much you would hope that others would act on your behalf.
I have to admit I don’t know a lot about modern Egypt or its government. What kind of arguments would Egyptian authorities find persuasive?
If I write to the Egyptian embassy and base my appeal on the principle of freedom of speech, or on the idea that the state should not be in the business of enforcing religious orthodoxy, is that going to have any resonance with them?
Those are good appeals. Egypt is officially secular but controls religion. As Dr Palmer says you should olnly be respectful and not call names to the president or officials of Egypt. It is good to say that religion and opinion and expression should be a concern of the conscience of the person and not of the government.
Thank you for this information. I’ve signed and I’ve asked friends to sign. That someone is sitting in a jail cell because he writes a blog is outrageous.
I just saw a story on Drudge Report: “Egypt detains blogger in random security check…” Neat, I thought, that petition hit the publicity jackpot.
Turns out it’s a DIFFERENT opposition blogger: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyid=2006-11-19T214003Z_01_L19412312_RTRUKOC_0_US-EGYPT-BLOGGER.xml&src=rss&rpc=22. Disgusting.
I think that a short note expressing concern about Abdelkareem’s case and asking the authorities to correct a mistake by the local prosecutor would be in order. A country that aspires to be a leader of the Arab world should set a high standard of allowing free debate among its people. I would start the letter to the Ambassador with “Your Excellency” and conclude it with “Sincerely,” “Cordially,” “Respectfully,” etc.
Egyptian Persecution of Bloggers Must Be Uncompromisingly Fought – What Happens Right After That, However, Is Not So Simple
Instapundit has posted on a BBC story about the Egyptian government’s persecution of bloggers that as near as we can tell got its start yesterday evening on Slashdot: Police in Cairo have detained a blogger whose posts have been critical…