The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Karam Saber, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for “contempt of religion”.
Today, a court of appeals in Beba hears the case of Land Center for Human Rights director Karam Saber, an Egyptian writer who was sentenced to five years in prison for “contempt- and defamation of religion” in his short story collection, Where is God?.
A lower court in Beba, in the governorate of Beni Suef, tried, convicted and sentenced the activist in his absence in May 2013. The court later upheld his conviction on 11 March 2014 following a re-trial, ordering his release pending appeal on bail.
Mr Saber was sentenced for breaking Article 98(f) of Egypt’s Penal Code, which criminalizes “exploiting religion” for seditious purposes or showing disdain or contempt for religion. However, this sentence infringes Article 65 and 67 of the country’s new constitution guaranteeing respectively freedom of thought and artistic and literary creation.
If the sentence is upheld, Karam Saber would be imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. In its General Comment on freedom of expression, the Human rights Committee responsible for monitoring state compliance with International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights noted that “prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief systems, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant.”
EMHRN urges Egypt to uphold its international obligations to protect freedom of expression, including under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by amending its Penal Code to comply with these obligations and with its own constitution. No individual must be prosecuted based on blasphemy laws criminalising criticism of or insult to religious beliefs.