Monday, November 19, 2007

The courage and suffering of the dissidents

And while I'm on the subject of the extraordinary courage of dissidents in Muslim countries, let's spare a thought for Abdel Karim Soliman, the Egyptian blogger who was jailed for 'vilifying religion' and insulting the President - two things that ought to have earned him a medal rather than imprisonment. It's no surprise, in a country where dissidents can be raped anally with police truncheons, that he's being tortured in prison:

The Arabic Network for Human Rights information and Hisham Mubarak Centre for Law mentioned in their communiqué to the Prosecutor-General that the assault on Karim is manifested in the following:

* Being beaten inside ward Number 22 where he is imprisoned at the time of the assault, the battery was launched by another prisoner and a prison guard, in the presence of Officer Midhat Samir and under his supervision. Samir also gave the green light for the assault which resulted in a broken tooth "upper right canine tooth" along with a number of bruises and abrasions on various parts of the body.
* Transferring Karim to a disciplinary cell where he was handcuffed and had his feet strapped into shackles; he was beaten up again which caused him more injuries.
* Another inmate prisoner was brought over where they stripped him out of clothes and beat him severely in front of prisoner Kareem Soliman as they also threatened to inflict upon him the same punishment, if he didn't mind his own business.

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