Don't you dare touch the blogs

It’s amazing to se the massive support that the international blogosphere is giving to freedom of speech in general and Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer in particular these days. Kareem Amer, or Abd al-Karim Nabil Sulayman is a 22-year old law student from Alexandria, who, like many other bloggers, has expressed his thoughts on everyday life, politics and the world he sees around him in his Blogspot blog.

However, most of us aren’t as brave as Kareem. We live in counties where freedom of speech is a natural thing, as expressed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In Egypt expressing any views on the government, your university, or the prime minister is a prave thing to do.

I fully support the two campaigns and petitions for his immediate release.

I don’t care what Kareem’s views are. I only defend his rights to express them. I don’t know Kareem, but I have a feeling I would like him. I tend to do that, when people have the guts to express their oppinions – whatever those oppinons are.

I see it as every blogger’s duty to run to Kareem’s defence. If we don’t raise hell when one of us gets into trouble for doing what we all do, who will do it for us if and when we get into trouble?

Repressive regimes, such as the Egyptian, tend to scare of their critics now and again by setting examples. And four years in prison for saying that you thinks that your university is run as a terror regime and that Ahmed Nazif, the Egyptian prime minister acts as a farao? That’s a pretty strong message to every potential blogger to just shut up.

But I don’t think the Egyptian regime has counted in the international blogosphere. We are, quite able to send just a strong a message. A message of support for free speech. Kareem’s blog, has never been more popular. Even I have tried to read it, even though I don’t read arabic (and the translation tools are as useless as ever). It is getting more links than ever from everywhere, and I don’t think Blogger will ever shut it down after all the attention it is getting.

Even traditional media has reported on Kareem’s fate, almost as much as if Kareem was a well-known journalist.

Here’s a selection of international online media reporting on the matter (compiled from Google News):

Egyptian blogger jailed for insulting Islam
Reuters.uk, UK – 21 hours ago
By Alaa Shahine. ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) – An Alexandria court convicted an Egyptian blogger Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President …

Egypt blogger jailed for ‘insult’ BBC News, UK – Feb 22, 2007 An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years’ prison for insulting Islam and the president. Abdel Kareem Soliman’s trial was the first time that …

Egypt blogger jailed for insults
CNN – Feb 22, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) — An Alexandria court convicted an Egyptian blogger on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and …

Here in Sweden, all major media has reported on Kareem’s imprisonment:

• SvD: Bloggare dömd till fängelse
• DN.se: Egyptisk bloggare dömd till fängelse
• Expressen: Egyptisk bloggare dömd till fängelse
• Aftonbladet.se: Egyptisk loggare dömd till fängelse
• SVT: Fängelse för egyptisk bloggare
• TV4: Bloggare dömd till fyra års fängelse
• HD.se: Egyptisk bloggare dömd till fängelse

If you are one of those who sign petitions. Do it at Hamsaweb.com, website advocating free speech in the muslem world, or go to Petitiononline, and sign that one.

Petitions might not have the best of effects, so blog about it! Let’s defent our right to express our oppinions however insulting to the regime we live in.