The case of Bassem Youssef, the Egyptian satirist accused of insulting Islam and the president, has exposed what seems to be a series of politically motivated investigations into government critics.?
In this March 31 photo, a bodyguard secures popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt.
Amr Nabil/AP
EnlargeEgypt is escalating a series of cases against government critics, and pursuing investigations against journalists, comedians, and activists in what the president's critics say is a bid to silence them.?
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Today prosecutors questioned Ali Qandil, a standup comedian who appeared on the popular political satire show hosted by Egyptian Bassem Youssef. He's accused of insulting Islam during his 20-minute appearance on Mr. Youssef's show, Al Bernameg, or The Program.?
Mr. Youssef himself was interrogated on March 31, over accusations of insulting Islam as well as the president.?A new case has been filed against him as well.?And now Shaimaa Abu El Khir, a journalist who works with The Committee to Protect Journalists, faces accusations?of threatening national security and insulting the judiciary, as does the television host who interviewed her, after?commenting critically on the case against Youssef.
These cases come on the heels of prosecution of?many other local?journalists and prominent opposition activists?in what?critics of the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Morsi,?say seems?to be a politically motivated campaign against the president's critics by his handpicked public prosecutor.
Activists say the incidents are?further eroding?trust in the public prosecutor's position,?already low because?Morsi appointed the prosecutor himself in a controversial November decree?bypassing the constitutional process.
?We have a big problem with the public prosecutor. He's not independent,? says Ahmed Ezzat, a lawyer who is an activist for freedom of expression and attended Qandil's questioning today. He says the types of cases he is pursuing show where his priorities lie. Complaints of police torture and violence committed by the president's supporters?do not seem to be?pursued with the?same?vigor as cases against the president's opponents.?
The wrong priorities?
The US has been criticized by many Egyptians for not coming down hard enough on the new government for human and civil rights violations, but this string of events seems to have generated concern.?
US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that the US has ?real concerns about the direction that Egypt appears to be moving in," mentioning ?recent arrests? ??likely a?reference?to?Youssef's case. Earlier this week State Department?spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called Youssef's interrogation part of a ?disturbing trend of growing restrictions on the freedom of speech? in Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party struck back stridently, calling the remarks a ?blatant interference in Egypt?s internal affairs? that ?raise major question marks about the US administration?s position and discourse.? The party said the ?main? complaint against Youssef was defaming Islam, not insulting Morsi.
Morsi's administration released a statement distancing itself from the case against Youssef, saying the prosecutor was acting independently.
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