Egyptian author Ahmed Naji, jailed since February after being convicted of “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his novel Use of Life, is launching a new appeal for release after the government agreed to review the cases of political…
Tag: court case
Jordanian Writer Charged With Blasphemy for Sharing Cartoon
A Jordanian writer turned himself in over the weekend to face charges of insulting Islam with a cartoon that he shared on Facebook intending to mock the worldview of ISIS fighters. Nahed Hattar, a controversial left-wing Christian columnist and staunch…
Egyptian Court Denies Ailing Author’s Request for Bail Pending Appeal
Egyptian author Ahmed Naji’s request to be released from prison pending an appeal in his obscenity case was denied last week, meaning he will continue to serve his two-year sentence for “violating public modesty” until a higher court decides to…
India’s Madras High Court Refuses to Ban Controversial Novel
A two-judge panel at the Madras High Court in India last week rejected petitions to ban author Perumal Murugan’s novel One Part Woman, which has been the target of public protests including a book burning last year. Rightwing nationalists from…
Five Years After Brown v. EMA, Debate on Video Games Still Evolving
Five years ago this month, the Supreme Court decided in Brown v. EMA that a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional. Like every relatively new medium before them — comics in the 1950s,…
Malaysian Artist Charged for Viral Image of PM as Clown
Malaysian artist Fahmi Reza is facing sedition charges for depicting Prime Minister Najib Razak in clown makeup, an image that originally appeared online but has since proliferated in street art throughout the capital of Kuala Lumpur. After learning of those…
Writers and Readers Come Together to Support Jailed Egyptian Novelist
In a letter sent this week to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, PEN America and more than 120 writers and artists from around the world demanded the release of novelist Ahmed Naji, currently sentenced to two years in prison for…
Japanese “Vagina Kayak” Artist Fined for Distributing 3D Plans Online
A Japanese court yesterday imposed a fine of 400,000 yen (about $3,667) on artist Megumi Igarashi for distributing 3D plans of her own genitals via the Internet. The plans were among the premiums in her crowdfunding campaign, which raised money…
ATENA FREE!
Fantastic news from Iran today: after nearly 18 months in prison for drawing a cartoon, Atena Farghadani has been released! Farghadani’s sentence had recently been reduced on appeal from the original 12 years and 9 months, but even her lawyer…
Turkish Journalists Sentenced to Two Years for Reprinting Charlie Hebdo Cover
Two Turkish journalists were sentenced to two years in prison last week for republishing the post-attack Charlie Hebdo cover that depicted the Prophet Mohammed. Hikmet Cetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, both columnists for the Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, are appealing their…