Cairo court suspends novelist’s prison term pending appeal

An Egyptian court ordered on Sunday the release of jailed novelist Ahmed Naji as he appeals a two-year sentence for writing objectionable content in a book.
The lawyer for Naji, who is imprisoned for violating public modesty, says a court has ordered his client’s two-year sentence suspended pending review of his appeal.
Lawyer Mahmoud Othman tells The Associated Press on Sunday that Naji is expected to be released following the ruling of a Cairo Court of Cassation.
Naji was initially acquitted of the charge that he published a sexually explicit excerpt of a novel he authored which prosecutors said violated public modesty.
His acquittal was appealed by prosecutors and a higher court in February sentenced him to two years in prison.
That ruling was decried as part of a government crackdown on freedom of speech and expression.
Othman says the court will review Naji’s appeal on Jan. 1.
The sentencing against Naji last February provoked widespread criticism and an appeal by 120 international artists and journalists for his acquittal.
The court of cassation ruled to suspend his sentence while it examines his appeal, setting a next court date for Jan. 2.
Naji, who has written three novels and works at the literary review Akhbar Al-Adab, is an outspoken critic of the government.
He went on trial after a reader of the literary review complained that a passage in “The Guide for Using Life” containing explicit references to drug use had caused them to feel physically ill.
The Egyptian poet was acquitted at first but prosecutors appealed and won.

Source: Arab News