Egypt Investigating Satirical TV Host

Accused of insulting Morsi

Egyptian prosecutors launched an investigation Tuesday against a popular television satirist for allegedly insulting the president in the latest case raised by Islamist lawyers against outspoken media personalities.

Lawyer Ramadan Abdel-Hamid Oqsori charged that TV host Bassem Youssef insulted President Mohammed Morsi by putting the leader's image on a pillow and parodying his speeches.

Youssef's case will increase worries about freedom of speech in the post-Hosni Mubarak era, especially when the country's new constitution includes provisions criticized by rights activists for, among other things, forbidding insults.