Maghreb bloggers condemn the imprisonment of an Egyptian blogger

2007-02-28

Many bloggers were disheartened by the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer to four years in prison.

[freekareem.org]

Many Maghreb bloggers condemned the recent sentencing of an Egyptian blogger to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The blogger, 22-year-old Kareem Amer, is a staunch critic of Mubarak, and has accused al-Azhar University, the most prominent religious establishment in Sunni Islam, of encouraging extremism.

"Four years of imprisonment for Kareem Amer. Three years for insulting Islam and one year for Mubarak … Criticism in our countries is an insult and a crime. Sorry Kareem, [but] talk is useless, my friend … you will grow in status, and they will shrink," blogged al-Moudawina Attounisia.

His crime is that he blogs, wrote Moroccan blogger Naim. "He was imprisoned for expressing himself on his personal space. This happens in Egypt in the 21st century."

Under the headline, "Shame on Egypt: Blogging is not a crime!", Moroccan blogger Larbi addressed Kareem. "You have committed the unforgivable by doubting Islam and criticizing the government … You are only 22-years-old, but you've already known prison and interrogations and will surely get out scarred for life. Your mistake is being born in a place characterized by denial of free thinking, persecution, inhumanity and the absence of liberty. Your sole mistake is denouncing the autocratic regime of Hosni Mubarak and the radical and retrograde alternative of Islamists."

Thysdrus quoted an article by a Saudi blogger about the fast-growing blogging phenomenon in the Arab World. "Governments in the region should stop wasting time and resources cracking down on bloggers, and should focus more on the benefits they can gain from blogging. Blogs can give indications of trends and public opinion regarding pressing issues in every country, and leaders and officials should learn to be more open to criticism: They should realize that being in the public eye does not give them some kind of immunity. On the contrary, it is the other way around," said the blogger.

In a post entitled "Amrou Khaled and company," L'antre d'un esprit farfelu denounced "the intellectual laziness of many Muslims". The Tunisian blogger blamed Muslims for "taking what they are told is absolute truth, without searching elsewhere to form their own opinion". The blogger called for an end to the "flock mentality", and for people to search for the truth themselves, rather than follow preachers such as Amrou Khaled.

Zizou from Djerba revisited the Amazigh issue in Tunisia, saying the country "should seriously think about teaching the Amazigh language, at least in the universities, and why not in high schools? This language is part of our history, and it is in our interest to protect it".

Thysdrus wrote in response to an article by Kamal Ben Youness, a reporter at the Tunisian daily Assabah, who argues that translating the Qur'an into the Amazigh language is a "threat to Tunisia’s national unity". "Enough myths … why didn't anyone object to the Qur'an being translated into German or Uyghur? Why all this fear of Amazigh or Berber language? Why didn't our brothers the Algerians and Moroccans complain?" asked the Tunisian blogger.