"Today’s charges against yet another comedian for ‘defaming religion’ are part of an alarming new escalation of politically-motivated judicial harassment and arrests, Amnesty International has said.
In a mounting crackdown on freedom of expression, up to 33 people have been targeted within the last two weeks, with arrests and charges.
Some have been charged with what seem to be politically motivated or trumped-up criminal charges. Others are charged with ‘insulting the President’ or ‘defamation’ of religion for actions that should not be criminalized as they merely amount to the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression.
“We are seeing arrests and charges for literally nothing more than cracking a few jokes. This is a truly alarming sign of the government’s increasing intolerance of any criticism whatsoever,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“There is no sign of this campaign of judicial harassment coming to an end. The government is seriously redoubling its efforts to stamp out freedom of expression.”
Those targeted have included the country’s most famous political satirist Bassem Youssef, opposition activists, bloggers, and a high profile opposition politician.
Today, stand-up comedian Ali Qandil was interrogated at the public prosecutor’s office on charges of ‘defamation of religion’ on Bassem Youssef’s satirical television show. Qandil denied insulting Islam, emphasizing that he poked fun at the exploitation of religion, rather than the religion itself. He was released on bail........."
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