Egypt TV boss, journalist to be tried for insulting Morsi

Television boss Tawfiq Okasha and newspaper journalist Islam Afifi will be tried for "incitement" and insulting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the prosecutor's office said on Monday. Okasha, owner of the private channel Al-Faraeen, is accused of "incitement to murder" of the Islamist president, said Adel Saeed, a spokesman for the prosecutor general. Afifi, editor-in-chief of Al-Dustour newspaper, is accused of having published "false information" deemed insulting to Morsi and which could also "undermine and destabilise" Egypt, he added. Okasha and Afifi must appear before the Cairo criminal court, he said. On Sunday, the prosecution imposed a travel ban on the pair, prohibiting them from travelling outside Egypt while they are being investigated for anti-Morsi remarks after complaints were lodged against them. Okasha hosts a controversial talk show on his private television channel and is known to be staunchly anti-Islamist and opposed to Morsi, who was fielded by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party in the May-June presidential election. Last week, authorities ordered the show off the air for a month for "incitement to murder of President Morsi and to overthrow of the government." And on Saturday, they ordered copies of Al-Dustour seized after complaints that they contained remarks deemed insulting to Morsi.