As Cairo International Book Fair starts today, one Egyptian Bookseller and Publishing House will not be attending. While Khaled Lotfy, co-founder of the Tanmia Bookshop and founder of Tanmia Publishing House, sits in jail serving his five-year sentence, his publishing house has also been excluded from the Fair by the organisers, citing security concerns.
On 24 December 2019, the Egyptian Military Court of Cassation, following 11 postponements, finally rejected Egyptian publisher Khaled Lotfy’s final possible appeal against his 5-year prison sentence for publishing an Egyptian edition of Uri Bar Joseph’s The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel. Only a Presidential pardon can now free Khaled Lotfy from prison.
IPA has opened the nominations process for the 2020 Prix Voltaire which will be announced at the 33rd International Publishers Congress in Lillehammer. The announcement came among a packed freedom to publish programme for the IPA at Frankfurt Book Fair.
IPA is holding a full schedule of Committee meetings as well as open and public events around the 33rd International Publishers Congress in Lillehammer, freedom to publish, copyright enforcement and educational publishing.
The IPA confirms its freedom to publish programme for Frankfurt Book Fair with an open Freedom to Publish Committee meeting and a seminar hosted by the Norway Guest of Honour programme featuring relatives of two Prix Voltaire laureates and more.
Mauritanian blogger, Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed Mkhaitir, was freed on 30 July following nearly two years of effective house arrest and 6 year after his initial arrest in 2014 for a Facebook post criticizing the use of religion to justify discriminatory practices.
IPA President Hugo Setzer attended the Lima International Book Fair from 22-25 July, taking part in discussions around VAT and elivering a keynote on the Freedom to Publish.
IPA President Hugo Setzer attended the Beijing International Book Fair from 21-23 August holding several high-level meetings.