Egypt Suspends Bassem Youssef's Satirical Television Show
The satirical Egyptian television show "al-Bernameg " hosted by Bassem Youssef (dubbed Egypt's Jon Stewart) was suspended from the air last night, only minutes before airing. Last week, Youssef had turned his attention to making fun of Egypt's military rulers, sparking even more controversy and resulting in new, stricter editorial conditions from the show's network. Apparently, Youssef's writing staff failed to meet the new conditions.
In a statement released last night, the CBC television channel said that the program "insisted on violating the editorial policy." Last week the program aired commentary that featured Youssef ridiculing the fact that chocolate bars are being made in the image of ruling General Abdel Fattah al-Sis. The country's public prosecutor immediately ordered an investigation into the show.
Back in March, Youssef was briefly arrested and questioned over jokes he had made about Islam and former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Now, Morsi is imprisoned and awaiting trial, while Youssef finds himself drawing the ire of the ruling class once again. CBC has said that the show will remain suspended until changes have been made to its editorial policies.
What's so dangerous about a few jokes?