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April 19, 2007
EGYPT: Detention of Internet writer Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman (aka Kareem Amer), other judicial proceedings against journalists and writers in Egypt.
International PEN report on defamation and insult laws in Egypt available
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Sample Letter of Appeal for Kareem Amer
International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee makes available today the third of a series of reports as part of its campaign on the use of defamation and insult laws to suppress writers and journalists worldwide. This report Defamation in Egypt Today by Trevor Mostyn, a member of English PEN and a consultant and writer on the Middle East, explores the use of defamation laws in Egypt, looking first at the case of the trial against Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a professor whose insult case was eventually quashed. The report goes on to look at the legal system that has come under scrutiny and the libel charges that have been levied in recent years. It closes with reference to a current case, that of internet writer, Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman.
This document can be downloaded from http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=580&type=current
or available on request from sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk
This paper serves to provide a background to PEN’s current concerns about ten writers and journalists in Egypt who have been charged or sentenced for under criminal defamation laws. They include Internet writer Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known under the pseudonym of Kareem Amer, who was sentenced to four years in prison for ‘disparaging Islam’ and ‘defaming the Egyptian president’ on 22 February 2007. Kareem Amer is a former al-Azhar University student and is known for his secular views and his critical writings on Islam and Egypt’s highest religious authorities published online (http://www.karam903.blogspot.com). It is the first time that an Egyptian Internet writer has stood trial and been sentenced for his work, and there are fears that this case may set a precedent.
PEN remains seriously concerned about the numbers of writers and journalists sentenced or facing charges for their writings in Egypt. Writers, journalists and civil society activists remain at risk of detention, trial and imprisonment solely for peacefully expressing their views. The renewal of the Emergency Law in April 2006 is widely regarded as a means to silence critics and maintain strong restrictions on freedom of expression and religion. Constitutional amendments approved on 26 March 2007 allow for the drafting of a new anti-terror law to give police wide powers of arrest and surveillance. Opposition groups have voiced fears that this may lead to greater violation of basic freedoms. Trials heard in military or state security courts do not comply with international standards of fairness, and there are serious concerns about widespread reports of ill-treatment in detention.
Egypt’s press is one of the most influential and widely-read in the region but despite a pledge made by President Mubarak in February 2004 to decriminalise offences committed by journalists, laws which allow imprisonment for defaming the president, state institutions and foreign heads of state remain in place.
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN protests the detention of Internet writer Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman (aka Kareem Amer), and all judicial proceedings against journalists and writers in Egypt solely for their writings. International PEN considers Kareem Amer to be detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. PEN also reminds the Egyptian authorities of President Mubarak’s pledge in February 2004 to decriminalise defamation.
Appeals may be sent to:
His Excellency Mohammad Hosni Mubarak
President of the Republic of Egypt
Heliopolis
Egypt
Fax: +202 390 1998
Cc. His Excellency Cr Mamdouh Muheiddin Marei
Minister of Justice
Magles El Shaab St
Justice Bldg
Cairo
Egypt
Fax: +202 7958103