US blasts arrest warrant against Egyptian satirist
Investigations against Morsi’s critics highlight ‘disturbing trend’ of restrictions on freedom of expression, says Nuland
CAIRO (AP) — Arrest warrants and investigation against a popular Egyptian satirist and other critics of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, highlight a “disturbing trend” of growing restrictions on freedom of expression in Egypt, the US State Department said Monday.
The strongly worded statement by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland came a day after Bassem Youssef, who criticizes Morsi and hard-line clerics on his Jon Stewart-style show, was released on bail following an interrogation into accusations he insulted the country’s leader and Islam.
Nuland said it seemed that Egypt’s government failed to show even-handed justice in investigating cases of attacks against anti-Morsi protesters, journalists and police brutality.
Youssef’s questioning followed arrest warrants against five prominent anti-government activists accused of inciting violence.
On Sunday, Youssef was released on bail after nearly five hours of interrogation.
Several dozen supporters gathered outside the public prosecutor’s office as he presented himself for questioning a day after a warrant for his arrest was first reported in the media.
The media also intently followed the comedian’s interrogation. He first tweeted a series of quips from the prosecutor’s office. “They asked me the color of my eyes. Really,” one read.
The arrest warrant for against Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt’s Jon Stewart, followed an order earlier this week by the country’s top prosecutor to arrest five prominent pro-democracy activists in what the opposition has characterized as a widening campaign against dissent.
The acceleration in legal action targeting protesters, activists and critics comes against a backdrop of continued unrest in the country. Political compromise between the well-organized Islamists in power and their vocal liberal and largely secular critics remains elusive, while the country’s economy is in near free fall, which has increasingly fueled popular frustration.
The warrant against Youssef is the latest in a series of legal actions against the comedian, whose widely-watched weekly show, “ElBernameg” or “The Program,” has become a platform for lampooning the government, opposition, media and clerics. He has also used his program to fact-check politicians.
The fast-paced show has attracted a wide viewership, while at the same time earning itself its fair share of detractors. Youssef has been a frequent target of lawsuits, most of them brought by Islamist lawyers who have accused him of “corrupting morals” or violating “religious principles.”
In one episode of the show, Youssef mocks former militants who are now part of the mainstream political scene in Egypt. At a recent rally, some former radicals who were imprisoned for taking part in the assassination of late President Anwar Sadat in 1981, accused the opposition of using violence at anti-Morsi protests.
In the program, Youssef ridicules an Islamist who said the militants had repented by fasting for three months for mistakenly killing others with Sadat.
“What a message,” Youssef says. “Anyone can form a group in the name of religion, assassinate in the name of religion, and then oops! Repent and fast for three months, and it will too pass in the name of religion.”
Prosecutors deny launching a political crackdown, saying they are implementing the law.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.