Court of Cassation adjourns writer Ahmed Nagi’s re-trial to May 7

CAIRO - 2 April 2017: Egypt’s Court of Cassation adjourned on Sunday its consideration into writer Ahmed Nagi’s second and final appeal against his two-year prison sentence on charges of “violating public morals” to May 7, Youm7 reported Sunday.

In January 2016, Bulaq Misdemeanor court acquitted Nagi of the charges, but the Attorney General’s office appealed against the acquittal. On Feb. 20, 2016 a Cairo Appeals Court handed Nagi a two-year term of imprisonment and fined him 10,000 EGP (U.S. $554.095).

Nagi faced the charges after publishing the fifth chapter of his novel “The Use of Life,” in which two of the characters openly discuss sex, in Akhbar Al Adab magazine. Magazine Editor-in-Chief Traek al-Taher was also fined 10,000 EGP.

In December 2016, Nagi was released pending re-trial after the Court of Cassation accepted his challenge, but he is prohibited from leaving the country until the re-trial is concluded.