The Egyptian authorities are investigating fresh complaints against Egypt’s top satirist Bassem Youssef, as well as Walid Al-Ibrahim, who is the owner of the Saudi MBC channel, which broadcasts Youssef’s show. The two are being accused of “insulting the Egyptian people and mocking the armed forces”.
Egypt’s state-run Nile television reported that Attorney General Hisham Barakat referred on Thursday the complaints against the two to the Cairo Appeals Prosecution for investigations.
The plaintiff, Ramadan Al-Oqsouri, accuses Youssef of insulting “the State’s symbols” and demands that he stop filming and broadcasting his satirist “Al-Bernameg” show.
Egypt’s Al-Youm 7 newspaper quoted judicial sources as saying that the attorney general’s office has received dozens of fresh complaints against Youssef over the past few weeks after MBC resumed broadcasting his show.
Al-Sabeel news agency noted that among the plaintiffs are journalists Mustafa Bakri, a former parliamentarian and editor of El-Aosboa newspaper and Adel Hammouda, editor of Al-Fajr newspaper and presenter of “the Akher Al-Nahar” show.
Earlier on Wednesday, the vicinity of the Radio theatre in Cairo witnessed clashes between supporters of Egypt’s Defence Minister Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Youssef’s supporters during the filming of a new episode of his “Al-Bernameg” show.