Blogger jailed in Egypt ...

Another blogger is imprisoned in Arabia, Abdel Kareem of Egypt. My heart goes to him and his family, being imprisoned in Egypt is unique in that you could end up being tortured (the police don't consider beating as torture). Here is a list of charges against Abdul Kareem, try not laugh (Hat Tip: The Arabist )

-Spreading statements and rumours that disturb public security
-Insulting the President of the Republic
-Agitating for overthrowing the regime
-Agitating for hatred against Islam
-Misrepresenting Egypt, and hurting its image.

A campaign is underway demanding the bloggers release - that's what is great about the blogsphere.

The allegations might sound absurd and ambiguous to you but, no far from it, especially when you know there are thousands who're in jail, tortured and sometimes executed without charges or tried in a military court (they give only two sentences there; jailed for life or death by hanging - these judges have it easy). So, in a painfully funny way, those charged with feeble and laughable allegations like the one mentioned above, have it easy.

But wait a sec, how about Tayseer Allouni, Aljazeera correspondent who was sentenced to 7 years in prison - and now under house arrest - in Spain, on what crime? interviewing Bin Laden (if that's a crime, then another two other Western journalist are guilty of) and of course for working for Aljazeera (Remember the monkey chant England football team played in Spain). And how about Sami Alhajj , Aljazeera cameraman in Afghanistan, detained and tortured in Gitmo without a trial for more than 3 years.

Spain, US and Arab regimes are reading from the same book (and page) but the EU and US are the ones preaching human rights and taking the higher moral ground - talk about double/trible standard.

Technorati Tags: MidEast