EGYPT: BLOGGER CASE TO SUPREME COURT AFTER APPEAL RULING

EGYPT: BLOGGER CASE TO SUPREME COURT AFTER APPEAL RULING

Cairo, 12 March (AKI) - The lawyer of the first Egyptian blogger to receive a four year prison sentence for his web writings has said he will take the case to the Supreme Court. "We have no option but to go to the Supreme Court, and will do so as soon as possible," Ahmed Saif, lawyer for Nabil Kareem Soleiman, told Adnkronos International (AKI). His comments were made shortly after an appeals court on Monday confirmed the sentence handed down for Kareem, whose case has attracted international attention.

"The appeal court has confirmed what the first grade court decided, the conviction for incitement to hatred against Islam and slander of the president of the republic," Seif explained, "and as a result has not altered the sentence, which remains four years."

The news of the conviction of Kareem, 22, from Alexandria, spread like wildfire around the main internet sites and Egyptian blogs. Rights activists believe the sentence sets a dangerous precedent which may open up to persecution of bloggers.

"Kareem was in the court but I was unable to talke to him" the lawyer added. "There was a huge crowd of supporters and journalists . We lodged the request and hope to be able to meet our client this week or the next," he added.

After the initial sentence, which was widely criticised at home and abroad as a blow to freedom of expression, the Cairo authorities defended the decision and railed against what they called "meddling in the internal affairs of the country."