Free-speech and human rights groups are decrying an Egyptian court’s decision to jail blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman for criticizing Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his online forum. Critics and fellow bloggers fear Suleiman’s four-year sentence will set the stage for more arrests and fewer alternatives to state-controlled media outlets in his country.

CNET: An Alexandria court sentenced an Egyptian blogger to four years in prison on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, a 22-year-old former law student who has been in custody since November, was the first blogger to stand trial in Egypt for his Internet writings. He was convicted in connection with eight articles he wrote since 2004.

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