Egyptian Satirist Threatened for Giving Police Condom Balloons

[a7mos]

Egyptian Satirist Threatened for Giving Police Condom Balloons

An Egyptian comedian who works as a correspondent for a popular satirical television program could be in legal trouble for handing balloons made of inflated condoms to police officers in Tahrir Square on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.

Video of the prank showed the comedian, Shady Abu Zaid, and a young actor, Ahmed Malek, pretending to celebrate a national holiday in honor of Egypt’s police by giving unwitting officers the balloons. The video became a sensation on Facebook, where it was viewed more than 1.4 million times through Tuesday afternoon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/world/middleeast/egyptian-satirist-threatened-for-giving-police-condom-balloons.html

[a7mos]

Egypt TV Personalities Face Arrest for ‘Condom Balloons Police Prank’ Amid Calls for Boycott

Shady Hussein, a correspondent on the comedy television show ‘Abla Fahita’, and Ahmed Malek face arrest amid calls for their arrest by the public after a video in which he ‘pranked’ police officers went viral.

While local news outlets such as Al-Masry Al-Youm and Youm7 reported that Hussein was arrested, family members and friends confirmed that neither Hussein nor Malek have been arrested. In statements to state-media Al-Ahram, the Cairo Security Directorate refuted reports that anyone has been arrested for the video. However, the prosecution has confirmed that an investigation into complaints has commenced.

http://egyptianstreets.com/2016/01/26/egypt-tv-personalities-face-arrest-for-condom-balloons-police-prank-amid-calls-for-boycott/

[aoratos]

Satire has no limits.