Although the renowned Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef was released today on a LE15,000-bail, the arrest warrant he received yesterday, from the General Prosecutor, remains controversial.
“[Talaat] Abdallah, [the General Prosecutor], now has no legal authority to summon Youssef,” said Amr Emam, a human rights lawyer referring to a decision taken by Cairo Court of Appeals on Wednesday. “Youssef has the right to refuse to present himself for investigations.”
The court reinstated Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the former General Prosecutor, who was sacked in November by a decree from Mohamed Morsy, Egypt’s President; therefore, Emam argues that Abdallah’s decision is illegal.
Apart from the legal concerns, Youssef’s arrest warrant was the subject of a lot of objections from some politicians and public figures.
“Imagine Jon Stewart being arrested on charges of insulting Obama & contempt of Christianity. Yeah, that’s how it is [with] Bassem Youssef,” wrote Mona El Tahawey, columnist and public speaker on the Arab and Muslim issues, yesterday on her Twitter account.
Abdullah Kamal, the former editor-in-chief of Rose El-Youssef magazine and newspaper, perceives the questioning of Youssef fulfills what Morsy was really wishing while answering Amr El Laithy’s question on satirical shows during their TV interview last February.
“He [Morsy] proved that not only does he resent them [satirical shows], but also wishes they never existed,” stated Kamal in an article for alarabiya.net.
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Mohamed El Baradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Bothaina Kamel, TV presenter, both showed support for Youssef.
El Baradei said, on his twitter account, that Youssef’s accusations are used only by fascist regimes to shut their opponents up, while Kamel wrote, also on her Twitter account, “We are all Bassem Youssef,” encouraging people to support Youssef to defend the freedom of speech.
Not only politicians and media people supported Youssef; there were religious figures among his informal lawyers. El Habib Ali El Jaffri, a religious figure, refused accusing Youssef of contempt of religion.
Youssef, himself, faced this summon armed with the same weapon that almost got him jailed, satire. He arrived at the High Court “wearing an outsized version of the hat worn by President Morsi when he received an honorary doctorate from a university in Pakistan in early March,” according Ahram Online.
He was also tweeting, during the investigation, mocking the prosecutors. In one of these tweets he wrote “they [the officers and prosecutors] want to take a photo with me. Maybe this is why they summoned me.”
However, this time, Youssef was joined by his audience. Instead of watching Youssef making fun of the Egyptian regime, as they are used to, Youssef’s supporters took part in the process to defend their beloved TV presenter.
One of the audience made a comic arguing that it is not possible to condemn Youssef for insulting the President since all Egyptians do the same thing.
Youssef has been summoned to appear before the prosecutors for investigations in lawsuits that accuse him with insulting the Egyptian President and contempt of religion.
El Bernameg, Youssef’s show, caused a lot of controversy among Egyptians since it started, back in November 2012.
