Egypt releases anti-Islamist TV presenter

EGYPT: Egyptian authorities have released television presenter Tawfiq Okasha, who is on trial for incitement to kill the president and was arrested on separate charges, a security source said on Monday.

Okasha, who heads his own TV channel, was arrested on Sunday for former convictions passed in absentia, after visiting a police station to check on the status of his court case for alleged incitement to kill President Mohamed Morsi. He was notified of two six-month convictions for issuing bad cheques and one-month terms for stealing electricity, and was then released again after spending nine hours in custody, according to the security source.

At the start of his trial on September 1, Okasha denied calling for the murder of the country’s Islamist president.

“I merely criticised President Morsi,” Tawfiq Okasha told judges.

AFP