February 21, 2007
Egyptian Blogger to be Sentenced
For Blogging. Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman will learn his fate tomorrow.
WAPO:His family has already disowned him.
Soliman, 22, was expelled from Al-Azhar University last spring for sharply criticizing the university's rigid curriculum and faulting religious extremism on his blog. He was ordered to appear before a public prosecutor on Nov. 7 on charges of "spreading information disruptive of public order," "incitement to hate Muslims" and "insulting the President."......Egypt is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the "freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media." The exceptions allowed are narrowly drawn and require proof of "necessity" before restrictions can be imposed. The posting of opinions on a student's personal blog hardly qualifies as a threat to national security, to the reputation of the president or to public order.
There is a website dedicated to gaining Soliman's freedom here.
More here at Michelle Malkin's blog.
Update: The sentence is four years in prison. Unbelievable. Heck, send him to America, we'll take him.
By Howie at February 21, 2007 02:06 PM | | l digg this
