Authors Stifled by Government Restrictions

Controls placed by the authorities over the publication and distribution of books are impairing freedom of expression in the country, said the pro-government weekly magazine Black and White in its June 15 edition.



The magazine gave several examples of books which were confiscated from shops by authorities even though the vendors had received the culture ministry’s permission to sell them.



The report said that most of those books which were outlawed from being sold tackled the subjects of religion, sex or politics.



According to the magazine, Syrian writer Mamdoh Azzam said that the authorities took his novel Palace of the Rain off the shelves after religious figures complained about some of its passages.



Another author cited, Fawaz Hadda, said his novel The Traitorous Translator was seized from a book fair last year without any warning or explanation.



In an interview with Black and White, Haddad slammed censorship practises in Syria, arguing that these prevented writers from shedding light on the country's key problems and informing people about them.



Meanwhile, head of the Writers' Union Husain Joma'a – who sits on a body which censors books – told the magazine that censors “helped writers and guided them, so that they avoided being prosecuted later”.



He added that there were certain standards which authors had to follow that outlined the three red lines – religion, sex and politics – which they should not cross.

But the magazine noted that it remained unclear what criteria censors use when deciding whether to ban a book or allow it to be sold.



Based on the authors and censors interviewed, the magazine concluded that “there was no sense in adopting censorship” anyway, arguing that it was very easy for the public to get information from the internet.



It added that the best way to publicise an idea was to prevent it from being published.