Minutes before Al-Bernameg — Bassem Youssef's weekly satirical show — was due to air on Friday CBC presenter Khairi Ramadan announced that the channel had suspended the programme. Ramadan read a statement from CBC's management claiming that Youssef had “violated his contract and the editorial policy of the channel” but which did not provide any further details. Following the broadcast of the first episode two weeks ago in Youssef's new series CBC issued a statement distancing itself from Youssef's criticism of widespread pro-army sentiment and censuring to use of “phrases and innuendo mocking national symbols of the Egyptian state”. Those who attended the filming of the banned episode say it did not contain any criticism of the interim government or the military but focussed on the behaviour of the Egyptian media since Mohamed Morsi was removed from office. Al-Bernameg's producers said the show's team and production company received no advance notification of the cancellation and only found out about it when CBC announced its decision live on Friday. The production company insisted it had abided by all agreements with the host channel and contested CBC's claim episodes were submitted late. “The show's team apologise to the audience for not airing the second episode that was delivered to CBC on time and the content of which did not violate the tenets of professionalism or the law,” said the show's production company. “The company will work on containing the situation in a professional manner and would like to assure the audience that it will announce all details related to this issue in the shortest time possible.” Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to press the two sides had not reached agreement on whether the next episode will be aired on Friday or not. The show was shot in front of a live audience on Wednesday in Downtown Cairo's Radio Theatre. Staff and journalists working for CBC condemned the decision to cancel the episode. “We reject the suspension and demand the administration create an atmosphere that allows us to work freely,” said a statement released by CBC producers and presenters, including Lamis Al-Hadidi and Khairi Ramadan, hosts of the channel's main talk shows. The banned episode, say audience members, was divided into three sections. The first tackled media bias since the ouster of Morsi with Youssef focussing on abrupt U-turns and contradictions in the position of journalists like Mustafa Bakri, the editor of Al-Osbou, and talk show presenters such as Ahmed Moussa. Youssef questioned the credibility of both and suggested that they are seeking to deceive the public opinion and take Egypt back to the Mubarak era. “Opening the show Youssef said many people were upset with Al-Bernameg because they felt the programme had made fun of someone they respect and admire,” said audience member Ahmed Nabil. The second segment “celebrated” the 17th birthday of Al-Jazeera. “We will say happy birthday to Al-Jazeera channel in our own way. It has just turned 17 so it is still a teenager and we have to understand that,” Youssef said during the show. In the final segment Youssef talked about the first episode which he said “many people had found controversial”, adding that he cared about all Egyptians and it was not his intention to hurt anyone. “If our programme was seriously threatening Egypt's national security I would stop it immediately. We believe Egypt's national security is stronger than a satirical show,” he said. Youssef also said CBC's statement was full of “contradictions”. “CBC allows drama series full of sexual scenes and innuendo, even during the holy month of Ramadan. Yet now they say I violated their editorial policy by using words that might have a sexual connotation.” Youssef returned from three months off air on 25 October. The premiere of his third season of Al-Bernameg was widely anticipated, with many wondering whether the interim government, especially Minister of Defence Abdel-Fatah Al-Sisi, would be the subject of the same biting satire he had earlier directed at Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. In the first show he stayed away from any direct criticism of Al-Sisi and instead poked fun at the public's sycophancy. He also addressed the “hypocrisy” of TV personalities who had climbed aboard the pro-military bandwagon to vilify the 2011 revolution which they once praised. He played footage of their U-turns. At least seven complaints against Youssef were filed with the prosecutor-general accusing him of — among other things — insulting the military. Last week the prosecutor-general ordered an investigation into accusations the satirist had broadcast false information that threatened public security. Private and state-owned newspapers were filled with columns and news items lambasting his audacity in crossing the “red line” of the military and for offending “all Egyptians”. The media attack on Youssef and suspension of his second episode has generated concerns over the return of Mubarak-era techniques to silence the opposition. On Friday former vice president Mohamed Al-Baradei posted on Twitter: “Freedom of expression is the most important one but if it is exclusively bestowed on who we agree with then it is a hollow motto.” “Courage is to defend freedom of expression, not to suppress it.” Former presidential candidate Khaled Ali also condemned the suspension on his Twitter account, noting that “suppression doesn't kill an idea”. He was joined by Hamdeen Sabahi who described the suspension as “a fatal mistake”. “I do not accept the suppression of freedom of expression. We may agree or disagree with Bassem but in the end we have to encourage him to say what he wants in the way that he chooses,” Sabahi said in an interview with Skynews Arabia TV. Youth movements also slammed the suspension. “You can ban Bassem's show on TV but how are you going to stop him on YouTube?” asked Tamarod head Mahmoud Badr. “He can do an episode on the street and we would watch him.” Ahmed Helmi, a judge on the popular “Arabs' Got Talent” show, wrote on his Twitter account that “a regime that fears a media person and works to stop him shows it is a failed regime and knows it has failed.” “We went for a revolution, we thought there was going to be freedom but everything is now the opposite.” The surgeon-turned-comedian began his satirical career with a series of short self-made films uploaded to YouTube during the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. He was picked up by ONTV which hosted two seasons of his show during 2011 and 2012. As his star rose he moved to CBC, a channel that had enjoyed close links with the Mubarak regime. Youssef's main target was the Islamist elite that rose to power in post-Mubarak elections — excoriating them so sharply that some credit him with fuelling the tidal wave of protests against Morsi. In fast-paced jokes Youssef lampooned Morsi's clumsy speeches and gestures. He played clips from Islamist TV stations to expose hypocrisy in their mix of religion and politics. He fact-checked the president. One episode in which he played video clips showing 2010 remarks by Morsi, calling Zionists “pigs', caused a brief diplomatic tiff with Washington. In reply, Islamist lawyers prompted prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant against Youssef on charges of “insulting the presidency”. He was questioned and released without charges. In a column published two weeks ago Youssef pushed back against the atmosphere of “intimidation” and noted he could be dragged before prosecutors “by the hands of people who allegedly love freedom dearly, though only when it works in their favour”. “In reality there is no tolerance on the Brotherhood side or among those who call themselves liberals,” he wrote in Al-Shorouk.
