A Cairo court on Saturday rejected author Ahmed Naji’s third appeal for release from prison, where he has now served 10 months of a two-year sentence for “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his book Use of Life which…
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Egyptian Court Denies Naji’s Second Request for Release Pending Appeal
Egyptian author Ahmed Naji’s second 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…
Top 10 CBLDF Stories of 2018!
Looking back on a year where the news seemed nothing more than a constant sort of upsetting developments, it’s interesting to see which articles and stories were the fan favorites for CBLDF readers. Some were heavy on outrage, but other…
Egyptian Photojournalist Convicted of Murder for Covering Protests in 2013
On September 8th, 2018, photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, also known as Shawkan, was convicted for murder and membership in a terrorist organization after his arrest in August 2013 while “documenting the government’s violent dispersal of protesters at Rab’a Al Adweya…
Egyptian Author Fined for Sexually Explicit Excerpt
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji was fined LE 20,000 following his third trial for “harming public morality” by republishing an excerpt from his experimental book Using Life (also known as Use of Life) in 2014. Naji was initially acquitted of these…
Egyptian Police Raid Indie Press, Arrest Volunteer for ‘Posession of Unregistered Books’
Egyptian police on Sunday raided the office of a small independent press, Merit Publishing House, and detained a volunteer staff member for “being in possession of unregistered books without ISBNs,” implying they likely weren’t approved by government censors. The same…
Exiled Egyptian Creator Tackles Big Issues in Dystopian Webcomic
In the immediate wake of the 2011 Tahrir Square uprising, the Egyptian graphic designer and comic creator who goes by Ganzeer gained notoriety as a street artist, painting murals of protesters who had died in the struggle. But in the…
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…
Experimental Comics Thrive in Middle East Despite Obstacles
Without a doubt, the current world hot spot for underground and experimental comics is the Middle East and North Africa–a fact that might surprise many Americans. From Egypt’s Tok Tok to Lebanon’s Samandal to Nadia Khiari’s radical cartoon cat Willis…
Egyptian Indie Cartoonists: “The Pencil is a Tool Which All Dictators Hate”
The independent comics scene in Egypt is flourishing as more and more young adults find freedom of expression through the power of the pen. This is definitely the case for Cairo-based twin cartoonists Mohamed and Haitham El-Seht, who recently sat…