Caustic Egyptian comic gets thrown off the air

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/01/207271/caustic-egyptian-comic-gets-thrown.html



Popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, waves to is supporters

Caustic Egyptian comic gets thrown off the air
By Nancy A. Youssef — McClatchy Foreign Staff
Published: November 1, 2013

CAIRO — A private news channel suspended one of Egypt’s most popular programs, a satirical show modeled after Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” minutes before it was supposed to air Friday, sending chills in a nation fearing increased suppression of expression under its transitional military-led government.

Just two days earlier, the government held its first court hearing as part of an investigation against Bassem Youssef, the host of “El-Bernameg,” or “The Program” in Arabic, after an Islamic youth group charged he had insulted the military, the state and the 2011 uprising during his last show a week ago. The show was his first since the July 3 ousting of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, and Youssef took jabs at the military, Morsi’s supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood, the secret organization through which Morsi ascended to the presidency.

Viewers of Youssef’s show were filled with anticipation Friday about whether Youssef would continue to go after the popular military. Instead, minutes before the show was set to start at 10 p.m., the channel announced the show had been suspended.

How the government approached Youssef and his provocative show has become a litmus test for how Egypt and its military would support freedom of expression, once a key demand of the 2011 uprising that led to the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.