Heads roll as Egyptian TV airs pro- Mursi show

Station chief sacked while other officials are suspended over ‘ disgraceful’ blunder

An Egyptian state TV station has mistakenly broadcast a documentary glorifying the performance of the ousted Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.

The Nile TV, state- run station broadcasting in English and French, showed on Friday an eight- minute documentary titled Mursi’s Accomplishments.

The film was produced in the one- year era of Mursi, who was deposed by the army in July following enormous street protests against his rule.

Chairman of the Egyptian TV network Essam Al Amir sacked head of Nile TV Mervat Mohsin, who admitted that the disgraceful broadcasting was a “grave mistake”, reported semi- official Al Ahram Online yesterday.

“I am not sure if this is a deliberate act or grave negligence,” Mohsin said. “But of course, it constitutes a sort of subversion.”

Officials who were on duty when the documentary went on air were suspended from duty for three months, added Al Ahram. Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, is due to stand trial tomorrow on charges of inciting the killing of protesters while in office.

He is facing two other trials on charges of a jailbreak during a 2011 uprising against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak and conspiring with foreign groups. Mursi, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, could face death if convicted.