A man was sentenced to prison for writing a sexually explicit book. Excerpts from his novel were published in a literary magazine and someone who didn't like the story filed a lawsuit claiming the excerpt caused him distress and heart palpitations. Though he was initially acquitted when the prosecution appealed the second court overruled the first and the author will have to be locked away for two years. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/egypt-jails-author-two-years-over-sexually-explicit-081356891.html If someone thinks what they'll read in a magazine, literary newspaper or whatever will cause them distress why not stick to reading only the Koran?
It's not a good precedent, because the reader knew what the content would be. The problem is there are so many laws in other countries that seem bizarre, but as publishing is worldwide, it's hard to contain. That's another reason for using a pen name. It's much easier to feel freer writing that way.
Hmmmm...shouldn't the magazine be held liable? I mean, the author did not ask for the magazine to publish his content there. Or at the very least, they could have put some warning before proceeding to the actual contents so the reader will not proceed with it. I feel pity for the author as he just wrote a novel that expresses his creativity. He never really forced anyone to buy or read it. And the magazine owner, they were also fined but I just wish that they did not have to publish it if their magazine is wholesome and not for adults only.
Maybe according to their version of Islam reading, writing or printing such stories is a crime? And if that were so then the literary newspaper wouldn't have published the story because they knew they'd be punished in some way. But if no one knows such laws exist then the government should hand out some sort of guidelines to editors so they know which content is acceptable. And as Alex points out in place such as Egypt, authors should only rarely use their real names because they never can tell when someone may not like what they read and what if it's a jihadi?
It is stuff like this that makes me appreciate the Bill of Rights even more. We are very fortunate to live in a country that has such a foundation set of freedoms. But the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. There are plenty of people, both outside and within, that would love to deprive us of those rights.
It's an extreme sentence, but in some ways it highlights the fact that liberty is taken for granted in places like the US and people don't appreciate or use them wisely. I find that if you are going to express yourself in a Muslim country, be prepared for backlash and to be shunned or targeted somehow. That's why sensible people flee, or don't reveal their true identity. It is a risk as we have seen bloggers flogged, and journalists are censored. There is a sector that doesn't want to be liberal, and who knows if they are in the majority or minority?
Whilst talking about Freedom of speech and the Muslims world, Saudi Arabia sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his atheism on Twitter. The Kingdom in 2014 passed laws which labeled atheists as terrorists. Again if someone wants to break the law they should at least pretend to be someone else. Use a fake name and a proxy — anything that will make it hard for the authorities to identify you.
What are their laws on mature content there? It seems like an exaggeration to jail a writer who hasn't even been published yet. Erotica is a hard sell in conservative countries. The writer better get out there fast and publish the remains of his book where the media attention surrounding this could generate more money for him. LOL
I agree. I pity the poor author because he hasn't even published his book yet but he has already been put to jail without even profiting first from his work. For me, writing is considered an art form especially if you're writing a book or a novel. It takes a lot of time and effort to be able to write a good book and one should be recognized for it the right way. He should just move to a country which is more open to what he has to offer once he gets out of jail. Who knows, he might even earn respect and recognition for his work some place else.
