Associated Press
June 2, 2014
Hamza Hendawi
CAIRO (AP) — In a new sign of shrinking freedoms, Egypt's most popular
satirist Bassem Youssef announced Monday that his landmark weekly TV
show, which lambasted presidents and politicians, has been cancelled
because of pressure on the station airing it and a climate in the
country that no longer accepts satire.
But Youssef, Egypt's answer to Jon Stewart, gave a parting shot to the next president — former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
"Egypt
is witnessing its most glorious days of freedom — and I'll cut off the
tongue of anyone who says different," Youssef joked at a news conference
in the Cairo theater where his show, "ElBernameg" was filmed.
Since
el-Sissi's military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last
summer, Egypt has seen a surge in nationalism in the media that
tolerates little criticism of the army or of the now retired field
marshal. El-Sissi won a landslide victory in presidential elections held
last week.
Youssef has come
under heavy denunciations from military supporters for his often biting
satires of that jingoistic fervor and the media celebrities who fuel it
in newspapers and nightly political TV talk shows.
In
the 11 months since Morsi's ouster, Egypt's military-backed government
has detained thousands of members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and
killed hundreds.
The campaign has also arrested secular and
pro-democracy activists who led the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat
Hosni Mubarak and are now critical of the military.
During his election campaign,
el-Sissi said he will safeguard human rights, but his vague assurances
were overshadowed by his insistence that some freedoms must take a back
seat to stability. He backed new laws that severely restrict political
gatherings and protests.
In
another ominous step, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, in charge of
police, said Monday that police are buying equipment to monitor traffic
on social media and the Internet.
The
equipment will combat crime and prevent "rumor-mongering and distortion
of facts," slander, organizing of illegal protests and "anything that
may be contrary to established values and customs," he said. He said it
would not infringe on freedom of expression, saying it would instead
bolster "social cohesion."
Youssef
told reporters that Saudi-owned MBC-Misr TV, which has been carrying
his show, had come under pressure to halt it, though he would not say
from whom.
He brushed aside a
question on whether he believed el-Sissi was behind the network's
decision. But he gave a sly jab to the ex-military chief when asked for
details on the reasons.
"I want to give it to you, but I
cannot," he said with a grin, bringing a roar of laughter from his
staff on stage with him and journalists. The phrase was used by el-Sissi
in a recent interview and was widely mocked on social media because in
Egyptian Arabic it has a sexual connotation.
He
also declined to comment when asked if the pressure came from the Saudi
government, which has been among the main backers of el-Sissi.
"I'm
not a revolutionary and I'm not a warrior. I was expressing my views
once a week. The present climate in Egypt is not suitable for a
political satire program," Youssef told reporters. "I'm tired of
struggling and fearing and worrying about my safety and that of my
family."
"Stopping the
program sends a much stronger message than if it continued," he said,
adding that MBC-Misr "tried as much as they could but the pressure was
immense."
"ElBernameg" —
Arabic for "The Program" — was launched after the 2011 uprising that
ousted Mubarak, first on the Internet and later on the privately owned
Egyptian networks ONTV and CBC.
Its heyday came during Morsi's
one-year presidency. Youssef stung Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and other
Islamists, as well as liberal politicians and media personalities, with
jokes, skits and musical numbers. At one point, he was questioned by
prosecutors during Morsi's presidency after complaints he insulted the
presidency.
Youssef said at
Monday's press conference that Morsi's government had wanted to shut him
down and that if it had stayed in power it was "only a matter of time"
before it did so.
His satire
made him the darling of Egyptians opposed to the Islamists. But many of
them turned against him when, after Morsi's ouster, he began poking fun
at the military, Egypt's most powerful institution.
The
trouble began soon after his first show following the ouster. CBC
refused to broadcast one episode, prompting Youssef to jump to MBC-Misr.
Transmission of several episodes with that station was jammed, but it
was never clear by whom.
The
show went on a hiatus before campaigning began for last week's
presidential election, in which el-Sissi was seen from the start as the
certain winner. Youssef said that was a decision by taken the station in
hopes of protecting the program.
Youssef's announcement Monday means it will not be returning.
At
the news conference, he posed with the show's staff of around 50
people, some of them tearful, holding a sign that read, "The End," in
Arabic and English.
He said he turned down offers by
non-Arab TV stations to air the show because he was concerned he would
be branded a "traitor" by the pro-military media in Egypt. "Egypt is the
program's home. It cannot be broadcast from abroad," he said.
He played down the show's importance as a political voice, saying it was given "more credit than it deserves."
"Maybe
the cancellation will force people to think of something more creative
and useful rather than depend on one thing or one person," he said.
Asked what message he would have for whoever was behind the pressure to stop the show, Youssef said: "Why are you scared?"
*Photo by Amr Nabil courtesy of AP
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