Egyptian blogger gets 4 years jail time for insulting president and islam

[hippy fascist]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6385849.stm

Egypt blogger jailed for 'insult'

Soliman was arrested for his "insulting" blog posts in November

An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president. Abdel Kareem Soliman's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt.
He had used his web log to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.
A human rights group called the verdict "very tough" and a "strong message" to Egypt's thousands of bloggers.
Soliman, 22, was tried in his native city of Alexandria. He blogs under the name Kareem Amer.
A former student at al-Azhar, he called the institution "the university of terrorism" and accused it of suppressing free thought.
The university expelled him in 2006 and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial.
'Slap in the face'
During the five-minute court session the judge said Soliman was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak.

On blogs everyone is allowed to write what they want. This proves how unintelligent the president and Al-Azahr are

Kasia

Send us your comments

Egypt arrested a number of bloggers who had been critical of the government during 2006, but they were all subsequently freed.
Hafiz Abou Saada of the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation called the sentence "a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance".
The UK-based organisation Amnesty International said the ruling was "yet another slap in the face of freedom for expression in Egypt".
Fellow blogger Amr Gharbeia told the BBC it would not stop Egyptian bloggers from expressing opinions as "it is very difficult to control the blogosphere".
There have been no reported comments on the sentence from the Egyptian authorities.

 

[Memphis Slim]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6385849.stm

I guess America ain't so bad, is it???

 

[bulok]

The guy proved his point with this sentencing. The President of Egypt really is a dicktator.

 

[hippy fascist]

I guess America ain't so bad, is it???

That would be america the "land of the free" where teachers can lose their jobs for teaching the theory of evolution in schools within the bible belt. Yes so much freedom

The reality is that this simply proves once and for all that state and religion should be two seperate things. One inforces laws the other is an optional belief structure. When a man can lose his freedom for speaking his mind, well...there are no words.

 

[Memphis Slim]

That would be america the "land of the free" where teachers can lose their jobs for teaching the theory of evolution in schools within the bible belt. Yes so much freedom

The reality is that this simply proves once and for all that state and religion should be two seperate things. One inforces laws the other is an optional belief structure. When a man can lose his freedom for speaking his mind, well...there are no words.

HA!!! You got nothing!

America........."LAND OF THE FREE", where nut jobs like you can call the president an idiot and still sleep at night!!

That's got nothing to do with religion! And if someone has lost a job (which I don't believe) they have legal recourse, don't they?? LAND OF THE FREE!

And they certainly don't get put in jail for it!!! t: t:

You're looney you know that!!????

 

[Memphis Slim]

AMERICA ROCKS!! Just ask that poor sap in that Eygptian jail. I'm sure he like to be over here now.

 

[hippy fascist]

HA!!! You got nothing!

America........."LAND OF THE FREE", where nut jobs like you can call the president an idiot and still sleep at night!!

That's got nothing to do with religion! And if someone has lost a job (which I don't believe) they have legal recourse, don't they?? LAND OF THE FREE!

And they certainly don't get put in jail for it!!! t: t:

You're looney you know that!!????

I know your views on Islam border on the frankly hysterical, but why not listen to the facts for a change.

In america today endless amounts of media are censored because of religious pressure groups. There was a TV show called god the devil and bob that got pulled from the air after 3 episodes because god was portrayed as a laid back guy in a hawaiian shirt. The christian right claim to be heavily secure in their beliefs, but their innability to field any kind of criticism on it with a level head would suggest otherwise.

Also dude, you ***** about the treatment of black characters in comic books but happily slag off islam. Newsflash Celldog, religious intolerance is no different to rascism. It's all biggotry.

Why are you even here anymore? You got banned under your other username for this kind of thing

 

[Memphis Slim]

I know your views on Islam border on the frankly hysterical, but why not listen to the facts for a change.

In america today endless amounts of media are censored because of religious pressure groups. There was a TV show called god the devil and bob that got pulled from the air after 3 episodes because god was portrayed as a laid back guy in a hawaiian shirt. The christian right claim to be heavily secure in their beliefs, but their innability to field any kind of criticism on it with a level head would suggest otherwise.

If people bow to financial or political pressure, that's on them. It's public image or the mighty dollar driving that...not our government!! That's not censorship. People have the right to put out their product. But others have the freedom to protest it.

And did I say anything about Islam in my post??? NO!! You brought that up on your own! This is about freedom! And we have that in the good ol' USA.

Just ask Abdel Kareem Soliman.

Also dude, you ***** about the treatment of black characters in comic books but happily slag off islam. Newsflash Celldog, religious intolerance is no different to rascism. It's all biggotry.

Why are you even here anymore? You got banned under your other username for this kind of thing

My name is Memphis Slim. And this is still a great country. Hey...I know. Why not go live in Eygpt??? It's nice over there this time of year.

 

[Apollo]

so if i went to Egypt right now and insulted the president, id get arrested?

 

[hippy fascist]

My name is Memphis Slim.

Okay celldog, whatever...

 

[Memphis Slim]

so if i went to Egypt right now and insulted the president, id get arrested?

Maybe. If you're an Eygptian citizen..... definitely.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dont like America? Go live in Egypt, a house just went on the market there.

 

[hippy fascist]

Dont like America? Go live in Egypt, a house just went on the market there.

I don't live in america

 

[StorminNorman]

That would be america the "land of the free" where teachers can lose their jobs for teaching the theory of evolution in schools within the bible belt. Yes so much freedom

The reality is that this simply proves once and for all that state and religion should be two seperate things. One inforces laws the other is an optional belief structure. When a man can lose his freedom for speaking his mind, well...there are no words.

Not that I am for America being a theocracy or anything - but that story gives no support to your statement of "this simply proves once and for all that state and religion should be...seperate".

 

[StorminNorman]

I know your views on Islam border on the frankly hysterical, but why not listen to the facts for a change.

In america today endless amounts of media are censored because of religious pressure groups. There was a TV show called god the devil and bob that got pulled from the air after 3 episodes because god was portrayed as a laid back guy in a hawaiian shirt. The christian right claim to be heavily secure in their beliefs, but their innability to field any kind of criticism on it with a level head would suggest otherwise.

The show got pulled because it was not well received. It is the basic principals of capitalism - if there is no market for your product, it is not going to be sold.

 

[jaguarr]

While I have my share of issues with how America is currently being run, this article indicates a huge problem in Egyptian culture and politics and really isn't related to American politics outside of the whole freedom of speech bent. Then again, the same comparisons could be made to Candada, France, Britain, Australia or any other number of countries. As far as separation of church and state, I don't know that it proves that it's bad "once and for all". I think it does illustrate a point that such ties can indeed be misused and abused, but there's more to it than just one example. And, for the record, I'm probably more against integration of church and state in American politics than anyone else on these boards.

jag

 

[Darthphere]

I care because?

 

[kytrigger]

I know your views on Islam border on the frankly hysterical, but why not listen to the facts for a change.

In america today endless amounts of media are censored because of religious pressure groups. There was a TV show called god the devil and bob that got pulled from the air after 3 episodes because god was portrayed as a laid back guy in a hawaiian shirt. The christian right claim to be heavily secure in their beliefs, but their innability to field any kind of criticism on it with a level head would suggest otherwise.

Also dude, you ***** about the treatment of black characters in comic books but happily slag off islam. Newsflash Celldog, religious intolerance is no different to rascism. It's all biggotry.

Why are you even here anymore? You got banned under your other username for this kind of thing

Ahhh, but that's the rub. These shows weren't directly pulled by the religous groups, they were pulled by the networks. While it is true that religous groups put a lot of pressure on networks to censor, that is their right. Freedom of speech lets them do this no matter how annoying it can be to some of us. Saying we're protecting the freedoms of this country by not allowinga large group to actually speak their mind is pretty hypocritical.

 

[hippy fascist]

Ahhh, but that's the rub. These shows weren't directly pulled by the religous groups, they were pulled by the networks. While it is true that religous groups put a lot of pressure on networks to censor, that is their right. Freedom of speech lets them do this no matter how annoying it can be to some of us. Saying we're protecting the freedoms of this country by not allowinga large group to actually speak their mind is pretty hypocritical.

But surely the fact that they feel the need to wipe anything like this out suggest that their faith is not that strong in the first place. All things in life should be open to debate. Most of these christian groups lodge complaints without actually watching the shows themselves.

 

[kainedamo]

The irony of all of this is that the court proved this blogger right by giving such a harsh sentence.

Other bloggers in Egypt should speak out in protest. They can't arrest all of them.

And yeah, it wasn't necassary to bring up America. True, America is not guilty of censorship to this kind of degree. But the US is hardly an ideal place to live in. Americans see more importance in the right to own a firearm than the right to medical care.

 

[November Rain]

what i want to know is how this dude got busted in the first place

 

[kytrigger]

But surely the fact that they feel the need to wipe anything like this out suggest that their faith is not that strong in the first place. All things in life should be open to debate. Most of these christian groups lodge complaints without actually watching the shows themselves.

And it is open to debate, unfortunately the Christian groups are much better and more organized than the groups that want to keep those shows on. I gaurantee you that if a group was strong enough to oppose the Christian groups and pressured the network to keep the programming that it would stay, it's just that nobody has stepped up to the plate.

And while I agree that it is stupid that most complain without ever even giving it a chance or seeing it, technically they don't have to. That would be like saying I can't be against racism if I've never been hurt or oppressed because of race.

 

[WTFimVENOM]

This is ****ed up

 

[raybia]

While I have my share of issues with how America is currently being run, this article indicates a huge problem in Egyptian culture and politics and really isn't related to American politics outside of the whole freedom of speech bent. Then again, the same comparisons could be made to Candada, France, Britain, Australia or any other number of countries. As far as separation of church and state, I don't know that it proves that it's bad "once and for all". I think it does illustrate a point that such ties can indeed be misused and abused, but there's more to it than just one example. And, for the record, I'm probably more against integration of church and state in American politics than anyone else on these boards.

jag

I agree.

For the record, as a Muslim I condemn this treatment by Egypt and these practices violate the teachings of Islam. As long as the governments of Muslim countries continue to prevert Islam in order to oppress their citizens, and as long as the people continue to support corrupt leadership, they will remain 3rd world countries under the dicates on Imperialism and colonialism.

 

[StorminNorman]

The irony of all of this is that the court proved this blogger right by giving such a harsh sentence.

Other bloggers in Egypt should speak out in protest. They can't arrest all of them.

And yeah, it wasn't necassary to bring up America. True, America is not guilty of censorship to this kind of degree. But the US is hardly an ideal place to live in. Americans see more importance in the right to own a firearm than the right to medical care.

Everyone in America has the right to Medical Care...

I am against Universal Medicare though because it causes many problems in Canada. You have Canadians coming into America for certain types of surgeries - sometimes life saving - because the waiting lists are so long in Canada. Also you have no medical breakthroughs coming out from Canada like you do in America - because of their system. Nationalizing industries rarely works - look at Public Schools in America.

All Children should be protected by Government insurance - outside of that it is the responsibility of the person. It sounds cold, but thats capitalism.