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Egyptian author could face jail term for novel accused of “insulting Christianity”

Last year, Egyptian author Youssef Ziedan won the Man Booker prize foundation’s $60,000 International Arabic Fiction Prize for his novel Azazeel. This year, that same novel could land the author up to five years in jail if his book is found guilty of “insulting Christianity.” From the Guardian:

Azazeel has provoked controversy in Egypt ever since its publication. The Coptic church denounced it as offensive for its violent portrait of Coptic church father St. Cyril, and one critic said it “tries to Islamise Christian beliefs and takes the side of heretics.” Now a group of Egyptian and international Coptic organisations have filed a complaint with the country’s public prosecutor against Ziedan, a philosophy professor, accusing him of insulting Christianity.

Ziedan claims not to have expected the book to be charged with “disdaining religions,” and goes on to say that he and “the majority of intellectuals” in the country thought the charges would be dismissed. Instead, they have been referred to the Egyptian State Security Prosecution for trial.

Azazeel has already been the subject of numerous attacks and attempts to have it banned, according to the Guardian:

The author said that there had been many calls to ban Azazeel, with four books written attacking his novel, but so far the Egyptian government has not complied with the demands. “Other books have been published to defend the novel, not to mention hundreds of pro-Azazeel articles,” he added. “Azazeel has kept on its wide circulation; 18 editions have been published within two years – an unprecedented incident in the history of Arab literature. All such events have increased the ire of the church, which resorted to a new technique last week.”

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