Morsi vs. Egypt's Press

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s new president, appears to be taking a page from Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s old strongman. A court remanded the editor-in-chief of a local newspaper Thursday on charges of “insulting the president” in a move Egyptian journalists say is pitting Morsi’s government against Egypt’s free press in a way that is reminiscent of the authoritarian regime protesters ousted last year.

Late Thursday, Morsi issued a law that protects journalists from temporary detention while they await trial. But the charges still stand.

Egypt’s state prosecutor had summoned Islam Afifi, the chief editor of Al Dostour, over a controversial front page editorial on August 9, in which the paper told readers the nation would see bloodshed and strife if the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization of which Morsi was once a leading member, stayed in power.

Morsi may have had a legal basis to take action against the publication, which media analysts say called for an army-led coup against an elected president, a crime punishable by up to five years under Egypt’s penal code.