CAIRO: One month after the State Council Administrative Court revoked its license, Ibdaa (Creativity), a monthly magazine, will reappear again starting Thursday.
A source at the magazine’s Downtown headquarters told Daily News Egypt that the magazine filed a lawsuit to appeal the verdict.
Meanwhile, the magazine will put out a new issue next Thursday, the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.
Ibdaa was published by the General Egyptian Book Organization, which works under the authority of the Ministry of Culture.
While Ahmed Salah, media spokesperson at the ministry, could not confirm the news of republishing the magazine, he did confirm the appeal against the court’s verdict.
Ibdaa’s license was revoked for publishing a poem the court deemed “blasphemous.
The magazine was found guilty of publishing the poem in 2007 titled “On the balcony of Leila Murad, authored by Egyptian poet Helmy Salem, that included expressions that insulted God.
Two days after the poem ran, the magazine was pulled from newsstands and the issue was banned from distribution outside Egypt.
Rights activists have criticized the verdict for violating freedom of expression.
Ibdaa magazine was founded as a monthly magazine in January 1983. Its contributors include prominent Egyptian and Arab poets and literary critics.
Renowned Egyptian poet Ahmed Abdel Moaty Hegazy is Ibdaa’s chief editor.
