elijah’s adventure

Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, better known by his Internet pseudonym Kareem Amer, is a 22-year-old 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 and express his opinions on his blog. When the Al-Azhar administration discovered his blog in late 2005, he was expelled from the school and his case was referred to state prosecutors. On February 22, 2007, Kareem was sentenced to four years in prison: three years for ‘contempt of religion’, and one year for ‘defaming the President of Egypt’. An appeal was filed and a court hearing is set for March 12. More information is available at Free Kareem.

When I, a child who had been exposed to Christianity, rebelled against the dogma and was only chastised by my peers. Unfortunately for Kareem, his father is advocating Sharia [Islamic Law] to be applied. If Kareem does not repent and recant his opinions within three days, he would be executed. Fortunately, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, and The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information have all condemned the arrest and sentence. With the attention of these agencies, and two congressmen, Egypt would be well advised to drop all charges and release him from prison. Egypt, and its entrenched tourism industry, deserve to be reprimanded on the world stage if they proceed with Kareem’s imprisonment.