"Egypt's Jon Stewart" facing arrest warrant!

Well, I guess Egypt's troubled regime gets the last laugh on this act. Ouch.... Apparently, they have absolutely no sense of humor to judge here.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state prosecutors ordered the arrest Saturday of a popular television satirist for allegedly insulting Islam and the country's leader, in a move that government opponents say is aimed at silencing critics of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

The arrest warrant for against Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, followed an order earlier this week by the country's top prosecutor to arrest five prominent pro-democracy activists in what the opposition has characterized as a widening campaign against dissent.

Now that just isn't nice. The Arab Spring seems to have skipped a couple seasons and passed right into a hard freezing winter for those who hoped so highly for freedom out of this.

The warrant against Youssef is the latest in a series of legal actions against the comedian, whose widely-watched weekly show, "ElBernameg" or "The Program," has become a platform for lampooning the government, opposition, media and clerics. He has also used his program to fact-check politicians.

Source

Whatever the case though, it's pretty obvious that dissent is coming to be a dangerous thing in many places it never has been before. Speaking out, even in satire seems to be a dicey proposition. Arrest and criminal prosecution though? I'm going to say it's a safe bet the wave of expression and self determination has broken on rocky shores for the people of Egypt.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I am having a bad day mentally, I am trying to remember who put Morsi in control??? If I am not mistaken, the country who did it, claimed it was promote Democracy.......................Dammit! I hate getting old! My memory just isn't what it used to be......

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


From your source.......

The fast-paced show has attracted a wide viewership, while at the same time earning itself its fair share of detractors. Youssef has been a frequent target of lawsuits, most of them brought by Islamist lawyers who have accused him of "corrupting morals" or violating "religious principles."

Its not just the Leadership of Egypt. Once Religion puts the target on you, its all but over.

Sad.



S&F

reply to post by seeker1963


I guess that depends entirely on who you ask.

Eric Schmidt publicly commended an Egyptian Google employee who has been credited with playing a key role in activating the people in the Egyptian revolution, calling him a "hero of Google".

Wael Ghonim is an internet activist and Google employee who achieved international acclaim this year after he was arrested for working as an administrator on the Facebook page "We are all Khaled Saeed", referring to solidarity with a young Egyptian who died in police custody. Ghonim spent 11 days in secret incarceration regarding the page and energised the pro-democracy demonstrations in an emotional interview on 7 February, four days before Mubarak resigned.

Source

You could say Egypt Googled themselves a new President and Regime. Not everyone may say that, but some sure could.

I actually am coming to find hope in many stories like this. The people in power, nearly everywhere in the world, have gotten so completely out of hand with their rhetoric and paradigms that they, now, surely cannot retain power for long. They are desperate to cling to that which fate and popular opinion are soon to take away from them.

Eqypt is a US puppet. Could they be any more obvious?

Just like Pakistan.

Keep trying America. We think you are funny.

reply to post by wemustbreakyou

I'm just curious so I know what to report in the future.... Is there a nation which isn't a puppet of the US or Israel? Out of the 195 or so nations across our globe, surely there is one or two we can safely report stories about which wouldn't be the evil doing of US Intelligence or Politicians...right?

I hadn't heard anyone suggest Egypt was a puppet to the US. Morsi? US owned? Well... I guess we learn something new every day.

It’s long past the point where peaceful protest and revolt will change anything.
The only option left now is war.
Fate has been sealed.
It was sealed when the majority elected the MB to power.
The majority support the new way. The people speaking out against it right now are just the useful idiots that were used during the revolution to unseat Hosni Mubarak, so that the Muslum Brotherhood could gain power. Once the MB had power, then the “freedom” people were quickly thrown out.

They are just buying time right now while they work loyal MB people into positions of power in the military. Once the military starts becoming responsive to the will of the new leaders, then it is going to get really bad, really fast.

I fully expect Egypt will turn it’s military against Israel within a year, possibly two.

Anyone who speaks out against it, will be dead.

I will say that the critical point will be when they gain control of Syria. Then, on the behest of iran, all the Islamic countries around Israel will launch a ground attack on Israel after an Iranian nuclear strike.

If I was anyone like him, I would be getting out of the country while the getting is good. The population of Egypt are nothing but the walking dead. They will be used as nuclear canon fodder.

I would like to see what legal grounds they insist they have for charging him. Egypt's legal system is largely secular, however there is an element of Sharia.

Either way, this is a move to silence criticism to the Morsi regime. Once he claimed to be pro-democracy, now that he is taken over, many view him as worse than Mubarak. I see why.

reply to post by Mr Tranny

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
It’s long past the point where peaceful protest and revolt will change anything.
The only option left now is war.
Fate has been sealed.
It was sealed when the majority elected the MB to power.
The majority support the new way. The people speaking out against it right now are just the useful idiots that were used during the revolution to unseat Hosni Mubarak, so that the Muslum Brotherhood could gain power. Once the MB had power, then the “freedom” people were quickly thrown out.

They are just buying time right now while they work loyal MB people into positions of power in the military. Once the military starts becoming responsive to the will of the new leaders, then it is going to get really bad, really fast.

I fully expect Egypt will turn it’s military against Israel within a year, possibly two.

Anyone who speaks out against it, will be dead.

I will say that the critical point will be when they gain control of Syria. Then, on the behest of iran, all the Islamic countries around Israel will launch a ground attack on Israel after an Iranian nuclear strike.

If I was anyone like him, I would be getting out of the country while the getting is good. The population of Egypt are nothing but the walking dead. They will be used as nuclear canon fodder.

Egypt cant fight Israel during a revolution.

30th june 2013 will date the official start of Egypt's second revolution (even tho a lot of people have already started protesting). This is not covered properly in the media, but the Egyptians and saying "enough is enough" to Mursi and the brotherhood, 1 year after he was "elected". He is worst then Mubarak. He magnified the problems the people had during Mubarak's time, and added more to it.