Egyptian author Ahmed Naji jailed for two years over sexually explicit novel

Plaintiff who brought case says chapter gave him 'heart palpitations'

Naji (centre with head bowed) attends the court hearing in Cairo (AP Photo/Ramy Yaacoub)

An Egyptian novelist has been jailed for two years after sexually explicit chapters from his novel were serialised in a state-owned newspaper.

The case against Ahmed Naji was brought by a private citizen who claimed reading the excerpt caused him distress and heart palpitations.

The decision to jail Mr Naji for two years for public indecency on Saturday comes after he was acquitted of the charge in January. Prosecutors appealed the acquittal by arguing the chapter “violated public modesty”. Mr Naji has the right to appeal the latest verdict.

The novel, Istikhdam al-Hayat, or Using Life, was serialised in Egypt’s most widely read literary review magazine: Akbar al-Adab. The newspaper’s editor, Tarek El Taher, has been ordered to pay a 10,000 Egyptian pound (£904) fine.

Ibrahim Eissa, a prominent columnist and talk show host in Egypt, was one of several writers who expressed outrage over the decision and wrote a front page column in the al-Maqal daily criticising President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

“Your state and its agencies, just like those of your predecessor (Islamist Mohammed Morsi), hate intellectuals, thought and creativity and only like hypocrites, flatterers and composers of poems of support and flatter,” Mr Eissa wrote.

Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press.