One of Egypt’s most popular political satirists is packing it in and ending his three-year old TV show, which is often and favorably compared to “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in America.  Bassem Youssef says he’s tired to struggling to get the show on the air and he’s worried about his safety and the safety of his family.

The former heart surgeon Youssef was the host of “al-Bernameg”, or, “The Program”, which he began as “The B+ Show” on the Internet with 5-minute programs, just after the fall of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.  Later in the year, it was picked up by the free-to-air Middle East Broadcasting Center and seen via ONTV in Egypt. 

Youssef poked fun at political figures across the spectrum, and was particularly effective at making fun of then-President Muhammad Morsi.  But that brought a backlash from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters, who sued him for allegedly insulting Islam and disrupting public order.  Youssef hung tough and maintained the show’s satirical edge.  Jon Stewart even flew in from New York to appear on the show.

But after Morsi was overthrown and the interim military government grew bolder in stifling public dissent, al-Bernameg found itself thrown off of free TV and moved to a satellite operation.  Despite this, ratings were continually growing.  Despite that, it was pulled off the air altogether for the run-up to the Presidential elections last month.  Former military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won and repression clamped down just a little harder.

Bassem Youssef has very real concerns when it comes to his safety.  Many journalists – including Australian Peter Greste – politicians, and academics have found themselves arrested and facing ridiculous charges of “insulting” or “humiliating” the regime.  Around the time al-Bernameg went off the air for the elections, popular pro-democracy and civil rights blogger Bassem Sabry died by falling off the balcony on his 10th floor apartment.  Some reports called it “suspicious” and it certainly wasn’t the first time an Egyptian dissident fell to his death.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s interim government issued a new law that makes it a jailable offense to “insult” the Egyptian flag, the national salute, and the national anthem.  And it’s asking foreign social media firms to help it monitor communications to prevent “crime” and “attacks”.