An Egyptian court this week sentenced blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman to four years in prison. He is the first person in Egypt to be jailed for internet-based journalism. He was charged with "inciting hatred of Islam" and insulting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his blog, where he wrote under the pseudonym of "Kareem Amer".

Snip from AP coverage of the sentencing on Thursday:

Nabil [Kareem Amer], wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in the defendants pen, gave no reaction and his face remained still as the verdict was read. He made no comment to reporters as he was immediate led outside to a prison truck.

Seconds after he was loaded into the truck and the door closed, an Associated Press reporter heard the sound of a slap from inside the vehicle and a shriek of pain from Nabil.

This is deeply wrong. Egypt, frankly, is not supposed to be some Talibanesque backwater governed by ignorant religious radicals who are so afraid of the transparent flaws of the belief system they are promoting that they have to go around cracking down on anyone who criticises them. The problem of statist Islamic radicalism, from which Egypt has suffered more than any western country, simply cannot be resolved unless people in muslim communities are able to stand up and tell these people just how stupid and wrong they are. By throwing this person in prison, the Government of Egypt sides with the ideological goals of Al'Queda and Islamic Jihad. It is time, unfortunately, for the International Community to start looking at Egypt sideways. They are not running a free country and they are not contributing to a positive future for the world.