FreeKareem
Encyclopedia
FreeKareem is a project of Mideast Youth
, directed by Esra'a Al-Shafei
. Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman Amer is an Egyptian blogger who was imprisoned for anti-Islamic and anti-governmental writings on his blog. He was the first Egyptian to be prosecuted for the content of his writings. Kareem’s sentence was for four years and expired on November 4, 2010. However, immediately upon his release he was immediately re-arrested. He was finally released from prison on November 17, 2010. Kareem was disowned by his family for his comments and his father called for his death.
Esra'a Al-Shafei started FreeKareem.org to raise awareness of the case and campaign for the freedom of thought and the freedom of speech. The campaign used social networking sites including Twitter
and Facebook
to spread the word about worldwide rallies that would be held to protest the Egyptian governments actions.
Amnesty International
and Reporters Without Borders
are among the organizations that lobbied for his release. The US State Department included Amer's arrest in its 2006 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Egypt .
Many Libertarian groups, such as Bureaucrash
and Institute for Free Enterprise (Berlin)http://iuf-berlin.org/, played a role in the protests.
Mideast Youth
Mideast Youth is a regional not-for-profit organization focused on amplifying voices of dissent throughout the Middle East and North Africa via digital media. It is a forum that allows non-governmental actors in the Middle East to engage in political warfare activities against corrupt regimes...
, directed by Esra'a Al-Shafei
Esra'a Al-Shafei
Esra'a Al-Shafei is a Bahraini civil rights activist, blogger, and the founder and executive director of Mideast Youth and its related projects. Al-Shafei is a senior TED Global Fellow, an Echoing Green fellow, and has been referred to by CNN reporter George Webster as "An outspoken defendant of...
. Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman Amer is an Egyptian blogger who was imprisoned for anti-Islamic and anti-governmental writings on his blog. He was the first Egyptian to be prosecuted for the content of his writings. Kareem’s sentence was for four years and expired on November 4, 2010. However, immediately upon his release he was immediately re-arrested. He was finally released from prison on November 17, 2010. Kareem was disowned by his family for his comments and his father called for his death.
Esra'a Al-Shafei started FreeKareem.org to raise awareness of the case and campaign for the freedom of thought and the freedom of speech. The campaign used social networking sites including Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
to spread the word about worldwide rallies that would be held to protest the Egyptian governments actions.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
are among the organizations that lobbied for his release. The US State Department included Amer's arrest in its 2006 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Egypt .
Rallies
On April 27, 2007, November 9, 2007, February 22, 2008, and November 6, 2008, the FreeKareem campaign organized worldwide rallies at Egyptian Embassies to stand up for human rights and free speech. They were held in Washington DC, London, Stockholm, Berlin, Athens, Rome, Prague, Bucharest, Brussels and other cities.Many Libertarian groups, such as Bureaucrash
Bureaucrash
Bureaucrash is an international network of libertarian activists whose stated goals are "decreasing the scope of government" and "increasing individual freedom" which engages in culture jamming.-History:...
and Institute for Free Enterprise (Berlin)http://iuf-berlin.org/, played a role in the protests.