(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 4 December 2002 EOHR press release: The Egyptian Authorities withdraw the banning of Al Adab in Egypt EOHR welcomes the Egyptian authorities’ withdrawal of the undeclared distribution ban on the Lebanese Arab literary and cultural review Al Adab in Egypt. According to a letter from the Al Adab’s editor-in-chief, […]
(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 4 December 2002 EOHR press release:
The Egyptian Authorities withdraw the banning of Al Adab in Egypt
EOHR welcomes the Egyptian authorities’ withdrawal of the undeclared distribution ban on the Lebanese Arab literary and cultural review Al Adab in Egypt. According to a letter from the Al Adab’s editor-in-chief, the distributor informed him that he had received written confirmation that the edition could be distributed in Egypt.
On 1 December, EOHR issued a press release expressing its deep concern about the distribution ban on the review’s edition after Mr. Sameh Iddris, the editor-in-chief of Al Adab, told EOHR that he had been informed by the Lebanese distributor that the particular issue of Al Adab had been banned and that the Egyptian authorities failed to provide any justification for its actions. EOHR also mentioned that Al Adab had begun a series of articles monitoring censorship in the Arab world that commenced with Syria. The banned edition contains articles and testimonies from about 19 writers, journalists, academics and publishers in Egypt, including Ahmed Al-Khamisy, Sona Allh Ibrahim, Idward El Kharat, Nasr Hamid Abou Zeed, Samia Mahraz, Somaya Ramadan, Karem Yahia and the publisher Muhamed Madbuly. The material criticized the forms and mechanisms of censorship in Egypt.
EOHR welcomes the decision of the Egyptian authorities to withdraw the distribution ban on Al Adab in Egypt. In this regard, EOHR hopes that the Egyptian authorities will avoid such situations in the future, in order to respect the right to freedom of opinion and expression. It also affirms the necessity of taking positive steps towards stopping all forms of formal and informal censorship.
