Free Kareem Amer

Kareem Amer is an Egyptian blogger imprisoned by his government (one of the thirteen countries listed by Reporters Without Borders as enemies of the Internet and grave violators of freedom of expression over the Internet) for, basically criticising the powers-that-be in his country. He is currently on trial for "Defaming the president of Egypt", "Incitement to hate Islam", "Highlighting inappropriate issues that harm the reputation of Egypt and spreading these publicly" and other such ridiculous charges.

Today is Free Kareem Amer day. Alongside with peaceful demonstrations at Egyptian embassies and consulates in several cities around the world, there are also going to be an online protest against the persecution of Kareem Amer and the denial of his right to express himself.

Kareem Amer doesn't deserve to go to jail for eleven years, even if he did everything the prosecution in his case insists he did. One of the amazing things about this Internet thingy for me is that we all get much greater opportunities to say what we want on a public forum, and I find such brutal suppression of the freedom of expression on the Internet particularly abhorrent (which is not, of course, to say that I'm okay with its suppression elsewhere). We, as junta living in the 21st century, have far greater freedom to express ourselves than our predecessors at any time. The persecution of Kareem Amer is a throwback to earlier times when dissent was far more easily suppressed, and must be opposed for the continuation of those freedoms everywhere.

For more information on Kareem Amer, you can see the Wikipedia article and FreeKareem.org, a website dedicated to securing his release. To know more about Free Kareem Day, visit the Rally for Kareem Amer website. You can also sign a petition calling for his release here.