Blogger completes sentence ... re-arrested

More information has emerged about Kareem Amer, the Egyptian blogger who remains in detention despite completing a four-year jail sentence last Friday.

The Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) says he was transferred from Burj al-Arab prison on Saturday to the State Security Intelligence in Alexandria – apparently to undergo release formalities. However, he has not been released and it is unclear why he is still being held. al-Masry al-Youm newspaper says he has been re-arrested but not charged.

ANHRI alleges that on Tuesday he was beaten by a junior State Security officer.

Kareem Amer was sentenced in 2007 for "spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country’s reputation", "incitement to hate Islam" and "defaming the president of the republic". He was the first Egyptian to be convicted and jailed purely for his blogging activities. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for his immediate release, saying there is no legal basis for his continued detention.

UPDATE, 16 November: Kareem was eventually released on November 15.