CAIRO, Sept 1: A popular Egyptian TV presenter accused of inciting the killing of the country’s new president on air denied the charges at the opening of his trial on Saturday, saying the case against him was part of a political row, Egypt’s state news agency reported.    

The flamboyant Tawfiq Okasha, who said on air that it was permissible to shed President Mohammed Morsi’s blood, has emerged over the past months as one of the most popular media personalities in the country. He denounces almost everybody – starting with the uprising that forced former president Hosni Mubarak to step down, the youth groups behind it, the military, the Freemasons and now the Islamists.

His attacks on the Islamists escalated after Mr Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was declared the winner in the country’s first elections.

Legal battles are drawing mixed reactions from pro-democracy groups, many of whom defend the right of free expression, denounce imprisonment of journalists and deem the Islamists’ practices as repressive. Others accuse journalists facing trials of spreading propaganda in the service of former regime loyalists.

According to Egypt’s Middle East News Agency (Mena), the prosecutor on Saturday accused Mr Okasha of using his TV programme in July and August to incite the killing of President Morsi, and of insulting him by calling him an “illegitimate leader and a liar”.

Mr Okasha denied the charges and said it was part of a political row between him and the Muslim Brotherhood group. If convicted, Mr Okasha can face up to three years in prison.

The charges came after Mr Okasha launched an on-air tirade against Mr Morsi, blaming him for an Aug 5 attack by presumed Islamic militants who killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.

Mr Okasha warned Mr Morsi not to attend the soldiers’ funeral for his own safety. He claimed the Brotherhood and Mr Morsi planned to kill him and retorted, “Fine, I declare it permissible to shed your blood too.”

“You don’t know what I have. I have beasts and lions behind me,” he said, addressing Mr Morsi and the Islamist group. “If you don’t control yourselves, I’ll put it all to the torch.”

Mr Okasha told reporters on Saturday his comments were taken out of context and that he was responding to threats he and his mother had received.  Mena said the judges postponed the trial to Oct 3.

The station owned by Mr Okasha, `Al Faraeen’ or `The Pharaohs’, was taken off the air since the case was filed against him last month.

He entered the courthouse surrounded by hundreds of supporters. They chanted: “With our soul and blood we defend you.” —AP