I guess you heard or read the bad news by now… secular blogger Kareem was sentenced to four years in prison today: three years for “insulting Islam” and another one for “insulting the president.”

And in a Kafkaesque development on the side of the trial, the recently released torture victim Abu Omar showed up in court today, using the opportunity there were media presence to expose his ordeal and cry out for help..

During the trial, an Egyptian imam allegedly kidnapped by CIA agents in Italy and taken to Egypt, showed up to speak to the media, breaking his release conditions.
Known as Abu Omar, the former Milan-based imam on Thursday told reporters that he was tortured in an Egyptian prison and that he wants to return to Italy.
He showed the cameras scars he said were from torture in Egyptian jails and said he will resort to the Italian government to help him.

Click on Kareem’s photo below to read Al-Jazeera’s report…

Local and international rights watchdogs have blasted the government over the verdict. Four Egyptian human rights groups denounced the trial and said they were filing an appeal. The NYC-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement strongly denouncing Kareem’s imprisonment as “setting a chilling precedent.” Amnesty International also condemned the prison sentence, and called for Kareem’s immediate and unconditional release.

Now, I’m really looking forward to the next Western news wire report that describes Mubarak’s regime as “secular” or “moderate,” as for some reason the wire editors love to insert those words…