CAIRO: A decree issued by Egypt’s interim head of state yesterday means people no longer face jail for insulting the president, after a surge in such cases under deposed leader Mohammed Mursi including that of a popular comedian dubbed “Egypt’s Jon Stewart.”
The legal change by interim President Adli Mansour was welcomed by activists who had voiced concern over the high number of investigations during the one-year rule of ousted Islamist Mursi, who was toppled on July 3.
But Human Rights Watch Egypt said the decree did not go far enough, arguing that insulting the president “should not be an offence in the first place.”
Several Egyptians were investigated for insulting Mursi during his brief term in office, fuelling fears that the Muslim Brotherhood politician was trying to crush freedoms won in the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The most high profile case was that of Bassem Youssef, a popular comedian likened to US satirist Stewart, who regularly poked fun at Mursi.
The prosecutor general ordered Youssef’s arrest in March, drawing criticism from Washington, but the cardiologist was released on bail.
Youssef hosted Stewart on his show in Cairo in June, and Stewart took aim at Mursi and his government, saying: “A joke has never shot teargas at a group of people in a park. It’s just talk.”
The army removed Mursi from power following mass protests against his rule and replaced him with Mansour, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court.
Under the decree, those found guilty of insulting the president face a fine of up to 30,000 Egyptian pounds ($4,300).
REUTERS
