In response to the Washington Post‘s editorial on “Blogger on Ice,” the press attache of the Egyptian Embassy, Karim Haggag, sent a letter (“Media Freedom in Egypt“). His letter and my response follow:
Media Freedom in Egypt
Monday, March 5, 2007; Page A14
Your Feb. 28 editorial “Blogger on Ice; Once again Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak shows zero tolerance for a secular democratic dissenter,” regarding the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Soliman, provided a grossly misleading context to this incident.
First, contrary to your portrayal, freedom of speech is safeguarded in Egypt’s constitution and its legal framework. However, it is not an absolute right. It is superseded by values that Egyptian society holds sacred, including the sanctity of religion — not just Islam but all religions. A legal prohibition against defamation of religion is designed to prevent the bigotry and intolerance that Egyptian society does not accept.
Second, your suggestion that Mr. Soliman’s case was politically motivated could not be further from the truth. His sentence was the result of an impartial judicial process with due process, including the right of appeal. The assertion that the judicial process is subject to political control reflects a lack of familiarity with Egyptian law, under which government decisions regularly are overturned.
But perhaps the greatest distortion is the implication that Mr. Soliman’s case is but one example of the stifling of free speech in Egypt.
Criticism of the government, even the head of state, is now a staple diet of the media. The media sector — both print and broadcasting — has been liberalized to allow for greater independent ownership. Assertions that the government monopolizes the media cannot stand in the face of the expanding scope of freedom of expression in the print and broadcast media in Egypt.
KARIM HAGGAG
Press Attache
Embassy of Egypt
Washington
I hope that the Egyptian authorities will act to correct a clear mistake.
One year of Kareems sentence was for insulting the president, a little matter the irony of which Mr. Haggag does not address: jailing a college student for calling the president a dictator merely verifies the claim. One would think that the best way to rebut the claim would be to let him go. The authorities should correct that mistake immediately.
It’s not the only irony in this case, which started when Kareem was expelled from Al Azhar university for complaining that the university was suppressing thought. The university authorities not only verified the claim, but strengthened it by turning him over to the police and demanding that he be arrested.
With regard to criticism of religious extremism or of any religion per se, civilized people do not strike others or put them in cages when they don’t like what they say. The most dedicated supporters of Kareems case are devout and pious Muslims who do not fear criticism. They are secure in their dedication to their religion and respond to words with words, not with clubs. Kareem should not be punished for his online remarks with jail and beatings, especially when the original cause of Kareems prosecution was his documentation of the unpunished persecution of the christian minority in his home town of Alexandria.
I refer Mr. Haggag to the information available at www.freekareem.org. I hope that Mr. Haggag and others will visit the site for the facts and that they will encourage the authorities to correct the mistake that has been made.
Tom G. Palmer
Great letter, Tom! I agree with the Egyptian officer that anyone who calls me violent should be beaten up!
Did Mr. Haggag read his own letter? I think someone as pompous as he sounds would read, then sign. He contradicts hiself and the Egyptian gov’t. He inherently apposes any thought that the Egyptian gov’t is against freedom of speech, but they put a man in jail for it. That’s the simple truth.
“…civilized people do not strike others or put them in cages when they donâ??t like what they say.” Touche.
someone should remind Karim Haggag that the editor of one of those new newspapers he is very proud about has been sentenced for insulting the president (Ibrahim Issa was lucky enough to get a suspended sentence and is in the appeals stage now).
someone should also point out that while karim is facing trail for supposedly defaming Islam, not a single person is facing trail for all the violent attacks against churches that happened last year including the one Karim personally witnessed, apparently burning churches and stabbing nuns does not part of that bigotry that society should be protected from.
and maybe also point out that the same “independant” legal mechanisms where used again Naguib Mahfouz and Nasr Hamid Abo Zeid before, I’m sure he’ll enjoy explaining to us how it all makes sense.
it is true that the regime is not the main actor against karim, it is true that he his prosecutor and judge are not directly controlled by the state and are acting independently, that does not mean the state is not responsible, the legal framework that allows this to happen was created by the ruling party as a way to protect its power, the fact that we can’t hold the judge and prosecutor accountable for their grave violations of Karim’s rights is because the state won’t allow a true independent judiciary with clear and transparent mechanisms of accountability and professional integrity.
and finally it is the general prosecutors office that decides which cases are worth taking to court and which cases are not, which cases are worth wasting court time and tax payer money on and which cases are not, and the general prosecutor is appointed by the president or the minister of justice, it is very well known that state security has the final say on who gets to be general prosecutor and it is the regime that makes sure this post remains by appointment instead of being contested in elections (either within the judicial community or withing the populace).
in fact the regime has put 6 bloggers along with 700 activists in jail before for daring to speak in solidarity with the judges fighting for their independence.
and it doesn’t stop here, why is Al Azhar such a shity university in the first place, because the regime insists on controlling universities, and violently crushing any attempts to organize students, denying academic freedom, college deans are appointed, university heads are appointed, student union elections are rigged and it’s all by direct orders from the laughing cow Mubarak and his dogs at state security.
if Mr. Haggag thinks Karim’s case is somehow isolated from all that, he should find another job. or maybe he thinks American readers are clueless about all this, if that’s true then Tom that calls for a few more articles about Egypt.