CAIRO: Despite Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi weeks ago passing an edict stating that journalists would not be arrested pre-trial, police on Sunday arrested television owner and presenter Tawfiq Okasha in connection with charges that he called for Morsi's assassination as well as theft and a bounced check. Okasha is outspoken and critical of Egypt's President Morsi, but he has denied ever calling for the murder of the president. His trial of inciting people to violence began in early September in Cairo, and has caused widespread concerns from international and local press freedom watchdogs who are urging Morsi to end his crackdown on journalists and presenters in order to show his adherence to freedom of speech and press. “I merely criticized President Morsi," Okasha told judges during the court appearance. “This is a political trial. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to silence all dissent and reproduce the system from before the revolution," he said. Okasha added that he was in the dock for “revealing the Brotherhood's involvement in attacks on police stations, courts and prisons during the revolution" in 2011. The Brotherhood has lashed out at Okasha over that report, saying there is no basis to his accusations. Okasha's Al-Faraeen channel, suspended on August 16, aired a show that was stridently anti-Morsi and anti-Muslim Brotherhood, the party from which the leader emanates. The channel has also aired programs that link foreigners to Israel and espionage, which Egypt has battled in recent years as a result of the uprising and the military's claims of “foreign hands" in violent clashes from October last year through April this year. The charges against Okasha came at the same time that Islam Afifi, the editor of independent newspaper Al-Dustour, was accused of spreading false news and inciting disorder. Okasha was greeted by numerous supporters at the court, who chanted, “The people want Al-Faraeen!" The trial will continue on October 3. The defense during the first court appearance argued that the complaints against Okasha were not filed by Morsi himself and should be thrown out. The journalists have been barred from leaving Egypt while their trial takes place.
