Kareem Ameer, a young Egyptian student was initially facing a prison sentence up to 11 years for controversial writings on Islam and on President Mubarak published on his personal blog.
Mr. Amer was prosecuted under articles 98(f), 102 repeated and 179 of the Penal Code for “Inciting strife and defaming Islam, for what he attributed to God Almighty, and Mohammad the Prophet, which disturbs national unity and Islam as detailed in the investigations”, “deliberately diffusing information/data that disturbs public security, damages the public interest” as detailed in the investigations and for “insulting the President of the Republic”.
FIDH and EOHR recall that the expression of personal opinions and thoughts on the Internet amounts to freedom of expression, guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Egypt in 1982.
FIDH and EOHR consider that the charges of blaspheming Islam and defaming the President of the Republic and the sentence pronounced today constitute direct violations of freedom of opinion and freedom of expression.
Furthermore, FIDH and EOHR are very concerned at death threats received by Kareem Amer from members of his family and others. Indeed, in an article published in the Daily Star, one of his family’s members said that Kareem had “to take full responsibility for his wrongdoings”, implying that he deserved to die.
FIDH and EOHR also condemn the declarations of Amer’s father in a another newspaper, Al Masry Al Youm, denouncing the human rights organizations involved in his son’s case, referring to them as “monkey rights groups”.
FIDH and its member organization call for the immediate release of Kareem Amer and urge the Egyptian authorities to ensure his physical and psychological integrity, given the threats that have been publicly made.
FIDH and its member organization urge the Egyptian Authorities to comply with their international obligations to respect and ensure the fundamental rights and freedoms provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
FIDH and EOHR note this decision fits into a pattern of the deterioration of the freedom of expression in Egypt.
FIDH and EOHR recall that Kareem Amer’s condemnation stands in line with a series of repressive measures: from the June 2006 decision of the Ministry of Information and Communication ( which was approved by the Administrative Court of the State Council) which allows the authorities to block, suspend or close any web sites suspected of being a threat to the “security of the State” to the regular harassment of media professionals, journalists and other bloggers by the authorities.