International writers, artists urge Egypt to free jailed novelist

An American freedom of expression advocacy group has urged Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to "immediately free" Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji, who is serving a two-year prison sentence for publishing sexually explicit content in a literary magazine.

"Writing is not a crime," PEN America said on Sunday in an open letter signed by over 120 renowned writers and artists.

Naji, the recipient of the 2016 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, received a two-year sentence in February for "destroying social values" - an allegation tied to the content of his novel Using Life.

His trial came after Akhbar al-Adab released an excerpt in 2014 from the novel that contained explicit sex acts and references to habitual drug use.

Naji's references to sex and drugs are "subjects so relevant to contemporary life that they are addressed through creative expression worldwide," said the petitioners, who included Hollywood director Woody Allen, as well as authors Paul Auster, Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak.

The letter also condemned the charges against Naji, citing Article 67 of Egypt's 2014 Constitution, which protects freedom of artistic and literary creation and forbids the jailing of writers and artists for publishing their work.

"Mr. Naji's sentencing is emblematic of the Egyptian government's deeply troubling crackdown on free expression," it said.

Over the past year, the letter added, Egyptian authorities have closed cultural centres, raided an art gallery and publishing house, and imposed prison terms on several other artists.

By the end of 2015, there were at least 23 journalists in prison, making Egypt one of the world's worst jailers of journalists.

Mr. Naji's sentencing is emblematic of the Egyptian government's deeply troubling crackdown on free expression. - PEN America

The letter also urged the Egyptian government to amend Article 178, on which the charges against the 30-year-old author were based.

The letter came a few days before PEN America's annual Literary Gala, which will be held in New York on 16 May.

The organisation will honour the author in absentia with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in recognition of his struggle in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression, according to the its website.

Egyptian intellectuals and rights groups have also denounced the jailing of Naji.

"The continuation of such policies will further block the relation between intellectuals and the authorities," the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said in a statement at the time.

In solidarity with the imprisoned writer, many websites have re-published his excerpt, including an English translation by Ben Koerber on ArabLit, a leading blog on Arabic literature in translation.

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