Withdrawal of the distribution ban on Al-Adab

The Egyptian distributor informed the Al-Adab's editor-in-chief that he had received a written confirmation that the edition could be distributed in Egypt. _______________________________________________________________ 29 November 2002 Authorities censor literary review's issue on censorship Reporters Without Borders today deplored the decision by the Egyptian authorities to ban the November issue of the literary magazine Al-Adab (see cover), which was dedicated to the subject of censorship in Egypt. "Censorship is becoming more disturbing in Egypt inasmuch as it keeps spreading to new areas," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said, noting that Shohdy Surur, the webmaster of Al-Ahram Weekly, was last month sentenced on appeal to one year in prison for the online publication (on wadada.net) of a poem written 30 years ago by his father, Naguib Surur. Calling on the authorities to lift the ban on Al-Adab's latest issue, Reporters Without Borders pointed out that the constitutional high court stated in 1993 that the right to criticise public authorities was part of the requirements of a democratic regime. The organisation also pointed out that censorship is outlawed by article 4 of the 1996 press law. Al-Adab's November issue contained reports and personal accounts about censorship of the press, cinema and art, and included contributions by prominent novelists such as Sonallah Ibrahim and Edouard Kharrat. It also included an article by academic Nasr Hamed Abou Zeid, who was declared an "apostate" by the Egyptian supreme court in 1995 and who now lives in exile in Europe. In a press release, Al-Adab's editors said, "We condemn this new violation of press freedom and the dignity of intellectuals, and we call on all intellectuals in the Arab world to protest against repression."