( CNN ) -- A blogger who endured a four-year stint in an Egyptian prison for his writings has been released , saying he was jailed for defying convention . Abdel Kareem Nabil -- known by his blogger name , Kareem Amer -- is a self-proclaimed secularist who was convicted and imprisoned by Egypt for `` spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country 's reputation , '' `` incitement to hate Islam '' and `` defaming the president of the republic , '' according to a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists . The former law student at Cairo 's Al-Azhar University is a critic of conservative Muslims and has accused his school of promoting extremist ideas , calling Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak a `` dictator , '' it said . Nabil was released from prison November 16 . The now famous blogger said he was jailed because he challenged tradition . `` There are things we inherit without even thinking about them , '' Nabil said . `` I tried to change my way of thinking . `` I tried to read what was forbidden in our house , things written by people who in my home and in religious institutions are considered infidels . '' Nabil had at times been kept in solitary confinement , largely prohibited from communicating with his lawyers until late January , according to an Amnesty International statement . His time in prison has rendered him a cause celebre among bloggers and other advocates of free expression . But the former law student is not the only blogger to be arrested for expressing controversial views in Egypt . In January , police detained Al-Jazeera producer Howayda Taha Matwali after her work on a documentary that examined alleged torture in Egyptian police stations , the statement said . An Egyptian court found Matwali guilty of `` harming Egypt 's national interest '' and `` falsely depicting events , '' sentencing her in absentia to six months in prison , it said . Others , like Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas , say they have faced cyber attacks from state security for years . `` There are troubles that start online , '' he said . Abbas blames the Egyptian government for `` trying to hack your website , trying to block it , trying to disable your account by sending fake reports that you 're posting inappropriate material like they did with my you-tube , with my email , with my facebook . '' While the internet is among few spaces where Egyptians can express themselves freely , it is far from risk-free . Upon his release , Nabil told reporters that police officers beat him just before he left prison , sending him off with a warning not to blog again .
A blogger who endured a stint in an Egyptian prison for his writings has been freed . The former law student at Cairo 's Al-Azhar University is a critic of conservative Muslims . He was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail after he wrote about the country's religious leaders, including Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa.