18 Facts About Kareem Amer

Kareem Nabil Suleiman Amer was born on c 1984 and is an Egyptian Norwegian blogger and former law student.

Kareem Amer was arrested by Egyptian authorities for posts on his blog that were considered to be anti-religious and insulting to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

On 22 February 2007, in his native city Alexandria, Amer was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and one year for insulting the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Kareem Amer was the first blogger in Egypt explicitly arrested for the content of his writing, and was released on 17 November 2010, but not before he was beaten and detained by Egyptian security forces.

Kareem Amer thereafter moved to Bergen, Norway where he obtained political asylum and gained Norwegian citizenship.

Kareem Amer wished to complete a biology degree, but family pressure forced him to enroll in al-Azhar's Department of Shari'a and Legal Studies instead.

In 2004, Kareem Amer began expressing his reformist views at "Modern Discussion", as well as "Copts United" by 2005.

Kareem Amer first came to the attention of Egyptian authorities after he published a series of blog writings highly critical of the Muslim role in the deadly sectarian riots in Alexandria in 2005, the result of a play performed at a Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, and the violent reaction of the Muslim community over the play's 'insult to Islam'.

On 26 October 2005, Kareem Amer was arrested for the first time by Egyptian state security agency Amn al-Dawla for anti-religious posts on his blog.

Kareem Amer was detained for twelve days, and his books and personal writings were confiscated.

Kareem Amer posted writings that promoted secularism and women's rights.

Kareem Amer referred to the university as "the university of terrorism" and said that the institution stifles free thought.

On 6 November 2006, Kareem Amer was again detained by the public prosecutor's office after it questioned him about his writings on "Modern Discussion" that were considered by authorities to be of an irreligious nature, and because of al-Azhar's complaint to the Public Prosecutor Office.

Nevertheless, Kareem Amer insisted on his right to freedom of expression.

Kareem Amer called for applying Islamic Law "allowing him to repent within three days before killing him if he will not", according to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information called Kareem Amer's sentencing a "gloomy day for freedom of expression in Egypt" and urged his release.

Kareem Amer was briefly freed on 5 November 2010, having served the full four years of his sentence.

Kareem Amer was quickly rearrested by the Interior Ministry and detained for eleven additional days, during which time he later stated that he was tortured.