20 February 2016

Egyptian writer Ahmed Naji sentenced to two years for 'sexually explicit text'

Writer and journalist Ahmed Naji was sentenced to two years in prison on Saturday for publishing a “sexually flagrant article” in the state-owned cultural newspaper Akhbar Al-Adab last year.

The Abul-Ela Misdemeanor Appeal Court in Cairo also fined Tareq El-Taher, the editor-in-chief, EGP 10,000.

The verdict comes after the prosecution appealed the same court’s order on 2 January to clear the two defendants of all charges.

The two journalists were originally referred to misdemeanor court last year and stood in trial for the first time on 14 November 2015.

The prosecutor accused Naji of publishing a "flagrant erotic article in which the charged writer published a text that spewed sexual lust and transient pleasures, using his mind and pen to violate public decency and good morals, inciting promiscuity." [Ahram Online] Read more