soc.culture.egyptian

Panta Rhei wrote:
>
> Seems, smart folks and Islam just don't go together.

And it seems that just about everything insults pislam. Which means
pislam must have a really weak ego.

> /news/2007/mideast/
>
> Egyptian blogger jailed for insulting Islam, Mubarak
>
> New York, February 22, 2007¡XThe Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an
> Egyptian court¡¦s verdict sentencing an Egyptian Internet writer to four
> years in prison for his online criticisms. The case represents the first
> time that an Egyptian blogger has stood trial and been sentenced for his
> work.
>
> Abdel Karim Suleiman, who goes by the online moniker Karim Amer, was today
> convicted of insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A
> criminal court in the northern city of Alexandria sentenced him to four
> years in prison, according to international news reports.
>
> Suleiman, a 22-year-old former student at Cairo¡¦s Al-Azhar University, the
> preeminent higher learning institution in Sunni Islam, had frequently
> criticized Islam, Al-Azhar, which he accused of promoting extremist ideas,
> and Mubarak, who he referred to as a dictator. In 2005, Suleiman had
> criticized Muslims after sectarian riots in Alexandria. He was expelled from
> Al-Azhar in 2006 and then arrested in November 2006 and charged for his
> online writings.
>
> ¡§Egypt¡¦s repression of critical journalism has now spread online,¡¨ said CPJ
> Executive Director Joel Simon. ¡§The four-year jail term handed down to Abdel
> Karim Suleiman is outrageous, and he should be freed immediately.¡¨
>
> The Internet has become an increasingly important forum for Egyptians
> publishing independent news and political opinion. In the last year, the
> government has detained several bloggers affiliated with the country¡¦s
> pro-democracy movement, but Suleiman¡¦s case is the first in which an
> Internet writer has been prosecuted for his published material.
>
> In recent months, authorities have carried out wide-scale arrests of
> political oppositionists and arrested and prosecuted members of the media.
>
> In January, authorities detained Al-Jazeera producer Howayda Taha Matwali in
> connection with her work on a documentary about torture. Authorities found
> unedited footage showing re-enactments of reported incidents of torture in
> Egyptian police stations, which Matwali planned to use in a documentary she
> was preparing for the satellite channel. She was charged with harming
> national interests and falsely depicting events. Her trial in a state
> security court resumes March 7 and she faces a year or more in prison if
> convicted.
>
> On February 27, an appeal court will hear the case of Ibrahim Eissa,
> editor-in-chief of independent weeklies Al-Dustour and Sawt al-Umma, and
> Sahar Zaki, a reporter for Al-Dustour, who were each sentenced in June 2006
> to a year in prison for publishing a report critical of Mubarak. The case
> against Eissa stemmed from an April 2005 news item that reported efforts by
> an Egyptian lawyer to take Mubarak and his family to court on allegations of
> corruption, including the alleged misuse of foreign aid. The lawyer, Said
> Abdullah, was also sentenced to a year in jail.
>
> To date, Mubarak has failed to deliver on a highly publicized February 2004
> promise to journalists that he would eliminate prison penalties against
> journalists in Egypt. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights documented
> 85 criminal court cases brought against journalists from February 2004 to
> July 2006. Most of those prosecuted had written about official corruption.

Like I keep saying, muzzie is as muzzie does.

Gary the mighty Yaako warrior.