NGO Support

International PEN Women Writers Committee

May 17, 2001
His Excellency Maher Abdel Wahab
General Prosecutor,
The High Court
July 26 St,
Cairo, Egypt
fax 202 575 7165

Your Excellency:

re: Nawal el Saadawi

The Women Writers Committee of International PEN, the worldwide association of writers, is very concerned about our colleague, the outstanding Egyptian novelist Nawal el Saadawi. She appears before Shariat Court on June 18, threatened with being forcibly divorced from her husband because she is accused of being an "apostate."

A few years ago this punishment was imposed on another writer, Nasr Abu-Zaid. He was forcibly divorced from his wife Ebtehal Younes, also a writer, against the will of either of them. We protested at that point and we protest again. This punishment is not reasonable. At the very least it penalizes one person accused of no crime, namely the spouse. However, beyond that, it is used as a discouragement of freedom of expression, which is the right of everyone and the special duty of the writer.

Nawal el Saadawi is a talented, fascinating and outspoken writer and intellectual. Not everyone agrees with her; this could be said of all important thinkers in all ages and all countries. She represents the finest aspect of the intellectual heritage of Egypt and deserves your greatest consideration.

We urge you to intervene to drop all the charges against our colleague Nawal el Saadawi.

Sincerely,

Lucina Kathmann
Commissioner for Human Rights
International PEN Women Writers Committee