Alison Gibbons (Sheffield Hallam): 'Uses and Abuses of Reading Life: Morality, Fictionality and the Trial of Ahmed Naji'

"...they are accusing me as if I were the fictional character in the novel. Whatever the fictional character is doing in the novel, the prosecution is dealing with it as if it were my personal confessions. If the court gives us a verdict and if the court agrees that this is literature, this is a novel, I think this will have a huge effect on the freedom of expression in Egypt"

These are the words of Egyptian journalist and novelist Ahmed Naji, speaking in January 2016 (RNW Media 2016) about his prosecution by the state for 'violating public modesty'. The case went to trial with Naji acquitted in December 2015. Subsequently, though, the prosecution appealed; Naji was re-tried at a higher court and found guilty in February 2016, then sentenced to the maximum two-years in prison. Since then, Naji's case has been taken up by PEN International and high-profile novelists such as Zadie Smith have written in support. In December 2016, Naji's sentence was temporarily suspended and he was released from prison, subject to retrial. His case has captured the public interest, yet is indicative of more widespread suppression of free speech in the Arabic world. This paper analyses Ahmed Naji's trial in its socio-political context, considering the legal arguments, public discourse surrounding the case, and style of the translated except.