PEN warmly welcomes the long overdue decision by the Cairo Court of Cassation on 18 December 2016 to order the release of novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji, while deploring the fact that it took further four days to grant him his freedom. Naji, who was sentenced to two years in prison for ‘violating public modesty’ for a chapter in one of his novels, had spent 10 months in prison awaiting his appeal. He was finally releasd on 22 December but will appear in court again at a hearing scheduled for 1 January 2017.
Jo Glanville, Director of English PEN, said:
We welcome Ahmed Naji’s release, but are dismayed that he faces a hearing in January. Naji has been the victim of a wide crackdown on freedom of expression in Egypt that has affected writers, publishers, journalists, artists, activists and NGOs. His sentence and imprisonment have been a cause of grave concern, and a chilling effect for all artists, journalists and writers in Egypt, reducing the space for creative freedom in the country. We call on the authorities to guarantee their commitment to upholding the right to freedom of expression and drop all charges against him.
Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, said:
What’s obscene is not what Ahmed Naji wrote, but the fact that he was tried in the first place. While it is fantastic news that he has been released, we must also remember that his appeal will be examined in January, at which point the authorities will decide whether to try him afresh or whether to send him back to jail. He must remain free.
This sorry chapter must end so that Ahmed Naji can resume writing new chapters and new books. That is the lifeblood of PEN’s work and we defend to the hilt his right to contribute to literature, our common heritage.
Shortly after his release, Ahmed Naji posted a message on Facebook addressed to those who supported him throughout his detention. Translated by Samah Selim and originally published by Arabic Literature (in English), the message is full of gratitude, and of hope:
Best of good mornings to one and all.
After more than 300 days of isolation from the outside world and my beloved internet, the machine is slowly cranking up again. I’m trying to absorb what’s happening in the world around me, to feel the rhythm of the moment so that I can begin to make sense of it all. For this reason I apologize for taking so long to write.
I’m still at the beginning of this process. All the letters of love and solidarity were beyond my wildest expectations. I didn’t know anything about them the whole time I was in prison. I’m still trying to digest it all, the last ten months on the outside, and everything that you’ve done for me during those ten months. It’s simply amazing to me; someone who is not particularly social nor an enlightenment intellectual. Your outpouring of love is a source of constant wonder and I’ll need some time to absorb it. Your letters gave me the energy and the human warmth that have helped me to endure, to hang on and to move on.
…
To each and every one of my dear friends and loved ones: I hold you in the deepest core of my heart. Our nights are coming, with exuberant embraces and long nights of talk on the horizon.
Finally, the case against me is still ongoing, and there is a decisive hearing next Sunday in the Court of Cassation. Your solidarity and love are sure to get us through this last hurdle too.
(Read the full translation here and the original message here)
Please continue to show your support for Ahmed Naji ahead of his next hearing on 1 January 2017.
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Write to the Egyptian authorities
- Welcoming Ahmed Naji’s recent release and urging the authorities to ensure that he remains free;
- Calling for the charges against Naji and all other writers and journalists currently detained in Egypt in connection with their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression to be dropped, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a state party, as well as with articles 65 and 67 of Egypt’s constitution;
- Urging that Article 178 of the penal code which criminalises content that violates public morals be reviewed as a matter of urgency to ensure that it is not used to impose restrictions which exceed those that may be imposed under international law.
President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, |
Minister of Justice
Mohamed Hossam Abdel Rahim
|
Background
Prior to his release in December 2016, Ahmed Naji had served 10 months of a sentence imposed in February 2016 for ‘violating public modesty’ in relation to the publication in 2014 of excerpts from his 2014 novel Istikhdam al-Hayat (The Use of Life) in Akhbar al-Adab magazine. Editor of Akhbar al-Adab magazine Tarek El Taher, was also convicted and was sentenced to a fine. The court’s reasoning reportedly stated that creative expression is limited by religion, tradition, and moral values. Three earlier motions for a stay of implementation of Naji’s sentence filed by his lawyers were rejected. PEN International believes his imprisonment was in violation of the right to freedom of expression, as provided for under articles 65 and 67 of Egypt’s constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a state party.
Article 65 of Egypt’s Constitution guarantees freedom of thought and opinion, and article 67 guarantees freedom of artistic and literary creation. However, article 178 of the Penal Code provides for up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine for making, holding, distributing, leasing, pasting, or displaying ‘printed matter, manuscripts, drawings, advertisements, carved or engraved pictures, manual or automatic photographic drawings, symbolic signs or other objects or pictures in general, if they are against public morals’. Egypt’s parliament rejected a proposal in November by two MPs to abolish jail terms for ‘violating public modesty’. They had argued that article 178 of the penal code is unconstitutional as it restricts freedom of expression.
Naji’s case has been taken up by many writers and activists, both in Egypt and internationally. Over 500 Egyptian writers and artists signed a statement in solidarity with Naji, and in May 2016, an international day of readings was held for Ahmed Naji, with several PEN Centres participating. PEN America awarded him the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in May 2016, and over 120 international writers, editors and artists joined a PEN America statement calling for his immediate release, while English PEN recently published a translation by Mona Kareem of one of Naji’s short stories to draw further attention to his case ahead of his appeal hearing. In September 2016, he was an Empty Chair at PEN International’s 82nd Congress in Ourense, Spain where Iman Humaydan, the President of PEN Lebanon read from his work, and on 15 November PEN Centres around the world celebrated his work and campaigned for his release on the occasion of the 2016 Day of the Imprisoned Writer, with acclaimed Lebanese writer Hanan al-Shaykh writing a moving open letter to Naji.
Egypt’s crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years has not only targeted journalists and other media outlets, but has been accompanied by restrictions on cultural houses, including several raids on a publishing house and an art gallery in 2015 as well as charges against other writers. In November 2016, a restrictive NGO law was passed and many political and human rights activists are banned from travel.
Despite claims by President Sisi that the Egyptian media and press are free to talk as they please, PEN has been monitoring many cases of writers and journalists who have been jailed solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association, and assembly including during journalistic or human rights work, and continues to call for their release.