Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman

Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, better known by his Internet pseudonym Kareem Amer, is a native of Alexandria, Egypt. He grew up in a very religious family and attended the Al-Azhar religious school system his entire life. He began to rebel against the religious extremism he perceived in his school and began to express his opinions on a blog and the site "Modern Discussion." On October 23, 2005 Kareem posted an article on his blog, in which he heavily criticizes the Islamic religion. He attacks it as an enemy of peace and freedom, expressing his thoughts after the 2005 riots against Alexandrian Copts. Three days after publishing the text, Kareem was arrested by the Egyptian security forces the first time, which illegally held him in custody for 12 days. During this time, Kareem underwent physical and mental torture and his books and writings were confiscated. After strong international protests, he was released. Four months later, the government escalated the case. On April 17, 2006 Kareem was expelled from Al Azhar university because of his anti-islamic writings and further criticism of his professors. Al Azhar also informed the security forces about these steps, which may have caused his detention on November 6, 2006. This time, Kareem was not released, but held in detention pending trial until November 22, when he was charged with the following crimes:

* Spreading data and malicious rumors that disrupt public security;* Defaming the president of Egypt;

* Incitement to overthrow the regime with hatred and contempt; * Incitement to hate “Islam” and breach of the public peace standards;

* Highlighting inappropriate aspects that harm the reputation of Egypt and spreading them to the public.

After the first trial, the case was repeatedly delayed, mostly because of the State Security Service’s questions. Finally, the trial began on January 25, 2007. On February 22, Kareem was sentenced to three years in prison for defaming Islam and another year for defaming president Mubarak by judge Ayman al-Akazi. With this decision, Kareem Amer was the first Egyptian blogger to be jailed for his public writings. From the beginning of the case, Kareem has been supported by his friends of freekareem.org, who organized a petition, international media attention, and demonstrations in several cities all over the world. On November 9, 2007 rallies were held in a dozen cities on three continents to publicize the first anniversary of Kareem’s detention.

Kareem has been released on November 16, 2010 after spending 1471 days in prison.