The Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer. I was living in his hometown, Alexandria, when he got arrested and tried. His was the first case involving Internet Blasphemy in Egypt.
Some comments from the Wiki article and stuff I remember, just to show (again) how weird things get in the Middle East:
Amer was charged with:
--Atheism, due to some blog posts, such as "There is no God except the human being"
--Spreading information and malicious rumors that disrupt public security
--Defaming the president of Egypt
--Incitement to overthrow the regime based upon hatred and contempt
--Incitement to hate "Islam" and to breach public peace standards
--Highlighting inappropriate issues that harm the reputation of Egypt and spreading these publicly
Fun Fact - in Egypt you can also be arrested for "insulting the Armed Forces." Or at least you could under the old Constitution. If arrested in Cairo, you might end up jugged at the Citadel - a fortress built by Saladin when he was fighting Crusaders. With MANY dungeons and cells underground. WAY underground. Allegedly, like outer space, a place where nobody can hear you scream...
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'.
I lived in Alexandria during those riots. They killed/injured several people and damaged an architectural/historic landmark, St. George's Coptic Xian church.
The "play" was a RUMOR about a play performed at the church TWO YEARS EARLIER. The play SUPPOSEDLY showed a devout Muslim converting to Xianity. It was ALLEGEDLY distributed on DVD around Alexandria to try and convert Muslims.
Rumors most likely true - the whole story was cooked up by a Muslim Brotherhood political candidate, running in the 2005 elections (the first elections since 1981, IIRC). The MB candidate was trailing badly and needed a hot-button issue.
Early in 2006, Amer was expelled from al-Azhar University, Damanhour Campus, for criticizing some of the university's conservative instructors, writing in his blog that the "professors and sheikhs at al-Azhar who ... stand against anyone who thinks freely" would "end up in the dustbin of history". He also posted writings that promoted secularism and women's rights.
I passed thru Damanhour twice a day on my commute to work. The place has some interesting historical sites, but my Egyptian friends warned me not to EVER go walking around there by myself. The city is a hotbed of radical madrasas and Islamic fundies. Including that satellite campus of al-Azhar University - the oldest Islamic university in the world, with its main campus in Cairo.
Damanhour is one of the very few cities that still has its ancient Egyptian name. Damanhour means "city of Horus."
The blogger's father, Nabil Sulaiman, mocked the human rights organizations which tried to release his son. He 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.
Got that? His OWN FATHER asked the court to execute him if he didn't repent. For your "Ain't Religion Wonderful!" file...
On February 22, the judge said (Amer) was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak. An appeals court upheld the sentence on March 13, 2007.
Hmm. Given the events of 2011, they could have at least rescinded the "insulting Mr. Mubarak" part of the sentence. But Amer served his full term and later took part in the "Arab Spring" protests.
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