Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was subjected to repeated beatings at the hands of a junior officer at the State Security Investigation (SSI) office in Alexandria, the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported on Wednesday. “Sadistic practices such as these, against an unarmed prisoner, create popular resentment against the police--especially against SSI officers,” said ANHRI Director Gamal Eid. In a press statement, the ANHRI reported that Amer had been released from Burj al-Arab Prison on 6 November, where he had been held for four years. He was subsequently re-arrested by the SSI in Alexandria, however, and is currently being held without charge. “Kareem already completed his four-year prison term and his release is a legal obligation," said Eid. "So why is he being beaten and held illegally?” In its statement, the ANHRI went on to assert that the SSI would fail to silence Amer by keeping him in illegal detention, adding that the day would come when culpable police officers would be brought to justice.
