(photo courtesy of Moutaz Matar)
A TV presenter affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood will go on trial before a Giza court on 8 July, for allegedly attempting to topple a regime amongst other charges.
Moutaz Matar, a presenter with the Turkey-based Al-Sharq satellite channel, is also facing charges of inciting against state institutions, spreading false news, inciting murder, endangering homeland security and spreading sectarian strife.
Matar, once a prominent state TV presenter until the 25 January Revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, joined the Turkey based station upon its launch following the Muslim Brotherhood government’s ouster in July 2013.
The TV presenter uses an anti-government, pro-Brotherhood rhetoric as per the channel’s editorial policy. He has been heavily critical of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s government since joining the channel.
Matar, who will be tried in absentia, responded to his referral to court Sunday saying on his Twitter account: “Toppling regime…better adjusting the regime, Allah is predominant.”
Last week, Egyptian TV presenter Ahmed Mansour, who works for Qatari news network Al Jazeera, was briefly detained in Germany in relation to a legal case in Egypt for which he received a 15-year prison sentence in 2014. He was released by German authorities, avoiding a possible extradition to Egypt.
In the case, Mansour stood trial for the alleged torture and electrocution of a lawyer in Tahrir Square during the 25 January Revolution.
