Annual Prison Census 2008: Egypt
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 4 December 2008 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Annual Prison Census 2008: Egypt, 4 December 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/494a402647.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2008
EGYPT: 1
Abdel Karim Suleiman (Karim Amer), freelance
IMPRISONED: November 7, 2006
The general prosecutor's office in the northern city of Alexandria ordered the arrest of blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, known online as Karim Amer, on November 7, 2006, because of his critical online writing.
On February 22, 2007, a criminal court in Alexandria convicted Suleiman on charges of insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He received a four-year jail term, marking the first time an Egyptian blogger stood trial and was sentenced for his work.
Suleiman had been a student at Cairo's Al-Azhar University, the preeminent higher learning institution in Sunni Islam. He was expelled in 2006 because he frequently criticized the state-run religious university, which he accused of promoting extremist ideas, and Mubarak, whom he referred to as a dictator.
