Prosecutor investigates TV host on charges of 'defaming Islam'

Egypt Independent

Prosecutor general investigates 'defamation of Islam' charges against Eissa

Sat. January 19, 2013

 

Prosecutor General Talat Abdallah will investigate a report accusing Al-Tahrir newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Eissa of defaming Islam and ridiculing the Quran and Sharia.

The complaint was filed by a lawyer, who also handed over videos of Issa allegedly mocking Islam and its rituals on his satellite show.

Another video allegedly shows Issa sarcastically saying that if someone pickpockets a wallet their hand will be cut according to Sharia, but if they steal LE2 billion from the bank their hand won’t be cut off, while the audience laughs and claps. The complaint claims that his comments ridicule Sharia.

Eissa is one of the most prominent journalists opposing President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood.  He had been sentenced to jail in the era of former President Hosni Mubarak on charges of spreading false news about his health, but Mubarak issued a presidential pardon for him. 
 

*Photo courtesy of Hossam Fadl