Blogger gets 4-year prison sentence in Egypt (Miret el Naggar and Hannah Allam)

  An Egyptian court sentenced an anti-government Internet blogger to a four-year prison term in a landmark case that has sent shockwaves through the country's growing community of online dissidents.

  By Miret el Naggar and Hannah Allam -- McClatchy Newspapers 

   Feb. 23, 2007 -- CAIRO, Egypt -- An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced an anti-government Internet blogger to a four-year prison term in a landmark case that has sent shockwaves through the country's growing community of online dissidents. 

  The case against Kareem Amer, 23, a former student at the Islamic institute of al-Azhar, was Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger specifically for online writings; other bloggers had been detained for their offline political activities. 

  Amer received three years in prison on charges of contempt of religion and an additional year for defaming U.S.-allied President Hosni Mubarak. 

  "He's only 23 years old. This verdict will ruin his future," said Mohamed el Sharkawy, another blogger and opposition figure who was arrested and allegedly tortured in a crackdown on dissidents last year. "Security officials tailor-made this charge to shove bloggers and activists into jail. This means that the state cannot tolerate anyone voicing his opinion." 

  While human rights groups denounced Amer's sentence as further evidence of Mubarak's authoritarian regime backsliding on promised changes, the blogger's postings about Islam were so inflammatory that even some of the most fervent free-speech advocates couldn't bring themselves to support him. As a result, the case not only set a precedent for prosecuting bloggers, but also forced debate on the limits of religious and political expression in conservative Egypt.

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