The BBC is reporting that an Egyptian court has sentenced blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman to four years in prison for insulting Islam and the president of Egypt. During a seemingly brief five-minute court session, the judge said that Soliman was guilty and would be required to serve three years in prison for insulting Islam, and an additional year for insulting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. His trial marks the first time that a blogger has been prosecuted in Egypt.

Soliman had used his blog to criticize al-Azhar university, Egypt’s top Islamic institution, in addition to calling Mubarak a dictator. He was a former pupil of the university and referred to it as the “university of terrorism,” and make accusations that it was withholding free speech.

I think it goes without saying that his accusations were pretty much on the mark as he’s now being punished for his words. It’s easy for the mainstream media to kind of brush this off, but the blogosphere certainly will not. It seems difficult to comprehend a blogging environment where we are not allowed to say what he want, because here in the United States we have been fortunate enough to enjoy this freedom for a long time now; similarly for European countries. But the reality is that in many parts of the world the concept of a “free society” simply isn’t a reality. And it’s unfortunate that a relatively democratic Middle Eastern country like Egypt would respond in this manner, this is an act that one would expect a country like Iran to commit. I’m reminded of the European middle ages, where any disagreement with the ruling government meant sure punishment and often death. It’s disheartening that developing countries in today’s world have not learned from the mistakes the West made centuries ago while we were all developing countries.

That being said I want to commend Soliman. Surely he knew the risks he was taking in writing about highly sensitive issues, and it took a lot of courage to publish his works on a blog. While it is cruel and unjust for him to be sent to prison for his remarks, I think in the big picture it is a necessary and unavoidable step in the bigger picture of opening up Egyptian society to eventually accepting free speech. Don’t be surprised if 10-15 years from now Soliman is referred to as a “hero” or “visionary.”