According to the BBC an Egyptian court has sentenced an internet blogger to four years in prison for insulting Islam and the president.
Abdel Kareem Nabil has been in detention since his arrest in early November, his lawyer, Radwa Sayed Ahmed, said Nabil had been held in solitary confinement, forbidden visits from his family and lawyers. Nabil has been convicted of inciting sedition, insulting Islam, harming national unity and insulting the president. Nabil, who uses the name Kareem Amer on his blog, frequently denounces the government of President Hosni Mubarak on his blog and is often deeply critical of Egypt's Islamic authorities, particularly Al-Azhar, one of the Sunni Muslim world's top religious institutions. Nabil, a resident of Alexandria, was former a law student at Al-Azhar University.
Egyptian security forces arrested a number of bloggers in 2006, though they have since been released. The most recent of them, Rami Siyam, was arrested soon after Nabil but released after a few days.
Amnesty International (AI) considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views about Islam, the al-Azhar religious authorities and politics in Egypt. The organisation is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
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