"HEIL MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD!!! ".We'll be back after the break."
The anchor of the [1]Al-Bernameg show[1] (in English, "The Show" show) is Bassem Youssef, the former heart surgeon who, since the Egyptian revolution of 2011, has become increasingly world-famous as a satirist of the old school. Unlike most of his counterparts in the U.S. and elsewhere, Youssef is willing to risk truth to power in calling his government an incipient Nazi regime.
The April 12 show was the last of his current nine-month series of weekly shows, during which he's been subjected to numerous illegal-speech lawsuits brought by allies of the government and Muslim Brotherhood. Youssef says the break in production will last only a few weeks, while he attends "a very important international event" that he declines to name.
Egyptians Are Not Big
Free Speech Fans
Youssef's legal troubles are rooted in Egypt's new constitution, written and enforced by the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies. Thus the constitution provides for an undefined freedom of expression (Article 45), which is contradicted by the prohibition that "the individual person may not be insulted" (Article 31) and a prohibition against "the insulting of prophets" (Article 44), leaving significant leeway for suppressing free expression.
Egyptian law also allows individuals to file complaints based on being personally offended, and the state prosecutor has the freedom to enforce such complaints as he wishes, leaving little protection for those perceived as political opponents of the regime.
In early April, a dozen individuals joined in a complain against Youssef, alleging that he had defamed President Morsi on his show, by showing clips of the president's interviews and suggesting they earned him an Oscar for best actor, editing, directing, screenplay, and picture.
The plaintiffs wrote that they "suffered massive harm and were psychologically affected by this nonsense, ridicule and slander addressed to the head of the state."
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