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Ahmed Naji
| Full Name: |
Ahmed
Naji |
| Born: |
September 15, 1985
Mansoura, Egypt |
| Occupation: |
Author, Journalist |
| Nationality: |
Egyptian |
| Links: |
|
Biography
Ahmed Naji is an Egyptian novelist and journalist born in Mansoura in 1985. He is the author of four books, Rogers (2007), Seven Lessons Learned from Ahmed Makky (2009), The Use of Life (2014), and Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in Prison (2020), as well as numerous blogs and other articles. He was also a journalist for Akhbar al-Adab, a state-funded literary magazine, and frequently contributed to other newspapers and websites including Al-Modon and Al-Masry Al-Youm. Naji has been a vocal critic of official corruption under the rule of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Ahmed Naji was temporarily released from prison in Egypt on December 22, 2016 after his two-year prison sentence for "violating public modesty" was suspended by an appeals court on December 18. He was charged by state prosecutors after an Egyptian citizen complained that an excerpt from Naji's book, The Use of Life, had caused him to experience heart palpitations and a drop in blood pressure due to certain sexual content in the story. A lower court had previously acquitted Naji in December 2015, but on appeal a higher court found Naji guilty and sentenced him to the maximum prison term of two years. After 10 months in prison he was temporarily released and remained out of jail, though subject to a travel ban, while the trial was underway. On May 21, 2017, the Court of Cassation approved the challenge filed by Naji, overturning his original conviction and two-year prison sentence and ordering a retrial. However, he was unable to leave the country, with authorities arguing that he must remain in the country to await a retrial. On January 7, 2018, Naji's retrial on charges of "violating public modesty" was referred to a criminal court, which lifted Naji's travel restrictions and overturned the original sentence, replacing jail time with a fine. Naji was finally able to leave Egypt in July 2018.
On May 16, 2016, PEN honored Ahmed Naji with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award recognizing his struggle in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression. Watch the livestream of the award ceremony at PEN's literary gala.
Works in the WWEnd Database
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