Please Help This Young Man
Today’s International Herald Tribune ran this article by my admired friends Dalia Ziada and Jesse Sage:
CAIRO: In a cramped jail cell in Alexandria, Egypt, sits a soft-spoken 22- year-old student. Kareem Amer was sent to prison for over a month for allegedly “defaming the president of Egypt” and “highlighting inappropriate aspects that harm the reputation of Egypt.” Where did Amer commit these supposed felonies? On his weblog.
If the Alexandria prosecutors’ standards of censorship were applied in the United States or Europe, thousands upon thousands of bloggers would be behind bars. The basic right of individual free expression is sadly not respected in today’s Egypt. Yet the authorities’ decision to jail an obscure student for his writing reveals a larger struggle for free speech playing out between dissident bloggers and state prosecutors across the Middle East.
Please take the time, if you haven’t already done so, to sign the online petition. I also encourage people to advertise his case on a blog or other site and to write to the Egyptian authorities. Resources are available at www.FreeKareem.org.
His case is very serious. The continuation of the detention, under terrible conditions, does not bode well. Please take a moment to help him; he has violated no rights and no rules of justice and should be free.