Egyptian blogger sentence upheld

I rarely cover international sentencing developments, but this AP story cuts close to home:

An Egyptian appeals court on Monday upheld the four-year prison sentence given to an Egyptian blogger who criticized conservative Muslims and was convicted of insulting Islam and Egypt’s president, court officials said.  Abdel Kareem Nabil’s sentence last month had been widely condemned by local and international rights groups as a bid to curb free expression.

Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, had been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and inciting sectarian strife, and another year for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.

Here’s hoping embattled AG Gonzales does not get any ideas.