(AFP FILE PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB)
The Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) issued a verdict on the dispute between Bassem Youssef, the production company QSoft, and CBC channel, state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
Youssef, a surgeon-turned-satirist, denied being a part of a legal dispute regarding the suspension of his famous show Al-Bernameg.
The Center fined Youssef EGP 100m in favour of CBC, due to Youssef’s and QSoft’s violation of the contract between them and the channel and terminating the contract of “Al-Bernameg” show in November.
Bassem questioned in a tweet the timing of the news, saying: “I’ve been thrown into a commercial dispute I’m not a part of regarding CBC ending the show, and the timing [of] releasing the news raises questions.”
Al-Ahram claims the verdict was lodged at the Center on 10 November. According to its website, CRCICA is an independent non-profit international organisation established in Egypt in 1979. In 1987, the Egyptian Government recognised and approved CRCICA’s status as an international organisation. The Centre and its branches were endowed with all the necessary privileges and immunities ensuring their independent functioning.
QSoft refused to comment on the issue, saying in a statement on the show’s official Facebook page: “Under clause no. 40 of CRCICA’s regulations QSoft will adhere to the secrecy of the trial.”
CBC announced in November 2013 that its board decided to stop the show due to its producer and presenter’s insistence on “not adhering to the CBC’s editorial policy”.
Surreal and kafkaesque. This is a talented comedian who based his career on political satire. I remember the time when he was freely poking fun at Morsi and the MB when they were in power. Many of us looking in from outside were relieved to see that Morsi, albeit not pleased with Bassim’s jokes, did not ban the show. This was also music to the ears of many fans who were anti- MB. But soon after the coup, the new chief in town couldn’t tolerate his jokes. It is an irony that conservative Morsi proved more dammu khafif than the more secular military chief. Of course, this was not surprising to lucid observers who thought that the military was willing to use anything and anyone to topple the elected president and take back power. In the same way that Tamarud was used and others. I wonder how the folks who called for the overthrow of Morsi and “delegated” the power to the junta now feel about things. Some of them have fallen victim to the same junta whom they helped bring to power! Karma comes to mind!
One get so tired of reading your crap post !! Have you no more to say than your propaganda posts for MB ??
I do actually in a language you’d understand a little better.
Here goes: How about you stop reading my posts you fucking moron?
One more thing. Why do you equate opposing the junta coup with supporting the MB? They are not mutually exclusive Mr. Simpleton! Rhetorical question. Do not reply back as you will be ignored.
You are a big loser that does not have a life! So you want to make your life some exciting by writing things and get a reaction. But you’re right about one thing you fucking loser, that people should stop reading your crap !!!
He doesn’t see through your eyes.
It’s not a junta coup. it’s a controlled state of security and stability like a yellow flag after a crash on the race track. Morsi was a big wreck. Al Sisi has to endure criticism until a representative parliament is elected.
“freely poking fun at Morsi and the MB”
HAHAHAHAHAHA
In case you’ve forgotten, he was arrested for making fun of Morsi and later released after protests broke out.
This current dispute is between him and CBC. He broke out of his contract and joined MBC despite the fact that his show is owned by CBC.
You might be right about him not being totally free under Morsi but the show was not banned back then. Why do you think his show was cancelled by the CBC? Because they were pressured by Sissy and Mubarak friends to do so. If you look objectively at the state of freedom of press, expression and assembly in your country, Egypt has never seen such lows, even under the Morsi run. This is not to say that Morsi was a perfect president. Far from it. That’s why the democratic process has term limits. If you realised you made a mistake electing the wrong guy to office, you can correct that action come election time. Otherwise you will end up with someone who rules by the bullet, doesn’t tolerate dissent and cracks down on freedoms. Sounds familiar ?
Sounds like your not even Egyptian !!I Would strongly advise you not to interfere in Egypt’s politics! No one is interested to hear what you have to say! Asshole!
No shit Sherlock! I never said I was egyptian. Unlike your insecure monicker, mine indicates where I’m from. Now, does one have to be Egyptian to comment on Egyptian politics? For the paranoid intellectually-challenged like yourself, the answer is yes. For the rest of us reasonable people out there, the answer is a resounding no. If you apply that same rule to yourself you’d realise how stupid you are. It literally means that you won’t be able to say anything about America, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Qatar and Turkey to list a few of your usual suspects.
This might be hard for you to understand but democracy and human rights are universal issues and not limited to borders. When I lived in and visited Egypt I didn’t meet a single person who didn’t find Bassim funny. Perhaps a boring junta-slave person like you doesn’t see him as a worthy comedian.
I think what he was trying to say is don’t comment on issues without knowing the facts. Watching the news, especially western media outlets like CNN, only makes you more ignorant on the topic.
Your opinion is valid as long as it’s not full of shit.
oops sorry. I didn’t read your response before answering.
We all have a right to contribute. You can’t confine your visions to the inside of your head. Egyptians are world citizens now. You get to “interfere” in our countries too.
His show was never banned, it was put on pause and he used that as an excuse to switch over to MBC. I’m not criticising him, just stating facts.
Humor is good. I hope after the elections he comes back to present politics humorously.
Me too.
“If you realised you made a mistake electing the wrong guy to office, you can correct that action come election time. ”
Until then Egypt would have looked like Iran / Afghanistan. And then everything would have been too late, the Egyptian people would really been living in oppression! After six months, he wanted (Morsi) to give himself the supreme power !! All in a carefully calculated plan to give the total power to the MB !! So fuck you and your opinions, it is easy to sit in a different country and express your “democratic” views and quite another to live in the country where it is ongoing!
Those who fail to recognize the threat of theocracy get beheaded by it.
It’s refreshing to see this passionate discussion about democracy in Egypt through the prism of Bassem’s Kangaroo court verdict.
Someone gave the analogy that Egypt would have descended to chaos had the military not intervened and compared it to Iran. I have been to both Egypt and Iran and I can tell you that despite what you hear in the media, Iran fares much better, albeit there is clear deficit in the democratic process.
I just feel that Egypt wasted a historical opportunity of becoming the largest democracy in the ME, and with that the international community financial backing through FDI’s and tourism, instead of depending on IMF crippling loans and the Gulf grants.
Perhaps Egypt, despite its millennial civilization isn’t ready yet to go the next level. After all, the people get the government they deserve.
Despite all the whining and moaning about your posts here, your posts are by far the best, most lucid, and most interesting to read on this article.
Since you are speaking the truth, that is really upsetting some and getting them riled up. If what you said was just garbage, they wouldn’t be too worried. But since your points are valid and true, they are very agitated.
Sooner or later, it will be widely acknowledged, even this is to the dismay of some.
I also agree with what you said about Iran.
Ok, Mr world smart! Will see!!
I appreciate your support! As you have wisely stated change is coming. It’s not going to be an easy or a quick process. From what I know, Egypt politics have never been more polarized. I think that even some of those who hate change and vilify the other camp do carry a genuine care for their country. Both want to see a better and prosperous Egypt.
Sadly, January 25th revolutionaries lost a historic momentum when they were duped into thinking that Mubarak’s fall meant the end of the regime and allowed for the institution which created Mubarak to be the revolution “caretaker” of sorts.
Unlike past experiences of Brazil, Argentina or more so S.Korea where the military rule mitigated its brutality with solid economic actions, the Egyptian army’s greed compounded with corruption and mismanagement led to disastrous results on the majority of Egyptians. Some of the stuff is just outright laughable like the military general who apparently “invented” a device which can cure both Aids and Hep C. All with the blessing and the fanfare of the coup-government and its media.
Not all is lost though, the day will come when the average Egyptian on the street will realize that role of the military is to protect the nation’s borders instead of governing and meddling in the economy in peace time, as they have been doing since Nasser.
Getting back to Bassem’s program, without it for example, I wouldn’t have found out about a certain cool band called Cairokee with strong lyrics calling for human dignity and against dictatorships of any kind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMC939vlmUc