Abdel update

For those of you still interested in the imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman, look at Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders or Human Rights Watch for condemnation of the Egyptian authorities.

I was flabbergasted to learn today that Egypt has applied to the UN to host the 2009 Internet Governance Forum. Now I know the golden sands of the Red Sea and a day-trip to Giza must be tempting for those UN types, but if Cairo’s bid is successful the UN will have made a mockery of press freedom.

Democratic nations with influence in the UN must not allow this to happen.

Time for solidarity in blogging

Sad news today about Abdel Karim Suleiman, the Egyptian blogger who has been sentenced to four years in jail, 3 years for disdain for religion and 1 for insulting the president.

It is stomach-churning to watch Egypt follow in the footsteps of Iran and China by shackling freedom of expression on the net, though it’s hardly a world-shattering surprise given that country's questionable human rights record.

Just as disturbing is the news that Abdel Karim’s father is disowning him, expressing the wish that Sharia Law be applied to his son.

Given the occasional sparseness of my blogging activity, I must admit a nagging feeling of shame. The worst I risk when expressing my opinion is that I will be ridiculed by readers or cause my parents some slight embarrassment.

Meanwhile, someone who may be just like me (he is after all a male blogger in his early 20s) loses his freedom and his family for something I take for granted.

It’s just one of human rights abuses perpetrated in countries all over the world, but if the blogosphere truly is a community it is time for it to kick up a stink.

Repression of bloggers strikes at the heart of the human right to freedom of expression. The small but important price for living in a democracy should be to make as much noise as possible on behalf of those who don’t.