Activists in eleven capital cities worldwide are rallying for a jailed Egyptian blogger named Abdel Kareem. The “Free Kareem Coalition” is calling on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to pardon the blogger.
The international campaign to free arrested Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman is holding rallies outside Egyptian embassies in eleven global capital cities to press President Hosni Mubarak to pardon the young law student.
In February, an Egyptian court sentenced Kareem to four years in jail over writings on his bweblog that it claimed “despised religions” and “defamed the president of Egypt.” The ruling sent a chilling message to Egyptian bloggers and sparked international outrage.
When Kareem was first detained by Egyptian prosecutors in November of 2006, a diverse coalition of free speech advocates established the Free Kareem Campaign to secure the young blogger’s release.
Today, coalition members are holding solidarity rallies outside Egyptian embassies in cities across the world, including Washington, London, Prague, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, Athens, Bucharest, and Stockholm.
Rally participants outside each Egyptian embassy will deliver a letter to President Mubarak with that very message. They are also releasing an online video appeal to the Egyptian head of state via freekareem.org.
The Free Kareem Campaign has generated headlines in international media outlets, and nearly 10,000 supporters from around the world have sent letters to Egyptian authorities on Kareem’s behalf. Prominent diplomats from many countries have expressed concern about Kareem’s case to Egyptian officials, but the blogger remains jailed.