Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef arrives at High Court wearing outsized version of hat worn by President Morsi in Pakistan university ceremony; rejects claims he 'insulted' president and Islam on TV show Renowned TV satirist Bassem Youssef arrived at Egypt's High Courton Sunday morning in response to an arrest warrant submitted by the country's top prosecutor. Youssef turned up at the court wearing an outsized version of the hat worn by President Morsi when he received an honorary doctorate from a university in Pakistan in early March. Tweeting from inside the prosecutor-general's office as he undergoes questioning for 'insulting the president,' television political satirist Bassem Youssef says the prosecution office staffwere struggling to find a laptop with proper video software to screen episodes/evidence-against-him of his El-Bernameg show. "Police officers and lawyers at the prosecutor-general's office want to be photographed with me, maybe this is why they ordered my arrest?" said Youssef sarcastically via his verified Twitter account. He further added that while they were recording his features, he was described as both thin and average height. "Then they asked me: What is the colour of your eyes Bassem?" tweeted the green-eyed former physician turned satirist. Youssef deleted his tweets shortly after noon Sunday, though. The prosecutor-general had ordered Youssef's arrest on Saturday after a number of complaints were made against him for allegedly insulting President Mohamed Morsi, denigrating Islam and spreading false news with the aim of disrupting public order. During a phone interview with popular TV anchor Lamees El-Hadidy on Saturday night, Bassem Youssef rejected the accusation that he had insulted Islam. “We are not the ones who insult religion, all we do is expose the channels that have misused religion and harmed it more than anyone else. If there is anyone who has insulted religion it is those who use Islam as a weapon for political reasons,” he said, adding that he is determined defy those who “have disfigured my religion [of Islam].” When asked by El-Hadidy if he had insulted the president, Youssef said, “President Mohamed Morsi? How can anyone insult him, he is the first elected president.” TV satirist Bassem Youssef also complained that he was not officially summoned for questioning before he received an arrest warrant on Saturday and that this is against legal procedures. “I was never called for a hearing before [the arrest warrant] was issued, which is the legal norm, and we were surprised to hear the news via the media,” Youssef said via Facebook on Saturday, adding that he would go to the prosecutor-general's office on Sunday at 9:30am. Youssef hosts weekly satire showEl-Bernameg(The Show) on private satellite channel CBC. The complaints were filed by 12 people after Youssef's 1 March episode in which he mocked the president's interview with TV anchor Amr El-Leithy in February. In January, a number of Islamist lawyers filed a separate lawsuit against Youssef for "undermining the standing of the president" during his show but thecharges were dropped before the case reached court. Youssef said he would make himself available to the office of the prosecutor-general on Sunday. Dozens of supporters of Bassem Youssef rallied outside the office of the prosecutor-general in solidarity with the renowned satirist. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/68092.aspx
