A Cairo court rejected on Saturday a request for a stay of execution of the two-year sentence handed down to novelist Ahmed Naji. Naji is currently serving a two-year sentence on charges of publishing "sexually explicit" excerpts from his novel Istikhdam al-Hayah (Using Life) in the state-owned cultural newspaper Akhbar Al-Adab. Naji's defense had submitted an appeal to the prosecution in July but it was denied as well. Another appeal was rejected in late August by the North Cairo court. However, the prosecutor appealed, leading to this sentence in February, as he was accused of violating public modesty.

Source: Egypt Independent November 27, 2016 10:54 UTC