Three Egyptian Human Rights Organizations stated that “the Court ruling of imposing a fine on Metro’s author and publisher and confiscating the novel is a step backwards to the freedom of expression, and this decision will be appealed to assert our rights.” The Misdemeanor Court of Qasr El Nile has ruled today, in the case 1616 for the year 2008, that the author, Magdi El Shafai , and the publisher , Mohamed El Sahrqawi , of the novel “Metro”, each should pay a fine of 5,000 pounds, in addition, to confiscating the novel.
The case started in April 2008 when the Vice Squad (a body of the Ministry of Interior) collected hundreds of copies of the novel “Metro” after storming El Malemeh printing house and some libraries that sell the novel. The squad issued arrest warrants to the public prosecutor against El Shafai and El Sahrqawi to investigate with them. The ruling of the president of the Court of South Cairo was the collection and confiscation of the novel from the market and the prosecution of El Shafai and El Sahrqawi for “making and publishing something that was regarded immoral to the public; since the former wrote the novel that contains immoral statements and the latter for publishing and distributing it.”
The public prosecutor demanded the punishment of those artists, on the basis of article 30, 171, 178 and 198 of the Penal Code. Then, the prosecutor decided to prosecute El Shafai and El Sahrqawi in the Misdemeanor Court of Qasr El Nile, which issued its ruling today.
Human rights organizations that have signed this statement to confirm their continuous support to artists and calls people care about freedom of expression to show their solidarity to the author and publisher of “Metro”, especially since it’s the first graphic novel in Egypt and have received many awards and appraisals from critics. The organizations also state that criticizing literary work shouldn’t be held in courts.
