CAIRO – Egypt’s most popular television satirist, who every week skewers the Islamist president and hard-line clerics on his Jon Stewart-style show, was released on bail Sunday but could face charges of insulting the country’s leader and Islam.

Bassem Youssef is the most prominent critic of President Mohammed Morsi to be called in for questioning in recent weeks, in what the opposition says is a campaign to intimidate critics amid wave after wave of political unrest in deeply polarized Egypt.

Additional Photos

Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt’s Jon Stewart, gestures as he enters a prosecutor’s office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country’s Islamist leader. The Associated Press

Arrest warrants have been issued for five prominent anti-government activists accused of instigating violence.

Deputy chief prosecutor Hassan Yassin denied the nearly five-hour interrogation was part of an intimidation campaign and said his department was enforcing the law and seeking to establish some guidelines on freedom of expression.

“The prosecution is the protector of social rights and we work on implementing the law. ... There must be guidelines for those working in the media to observe so as not violate the law,” Yassin told The Associated Press.

Morsi last week accused private media of fanning violence and argued that it was being used for political aims.

But Yassin denied that the prosecutor’s office was operating at the behest of the presidency to go after Morsi’s critics, saying it has also interrogated and sentenced Islamists. Morsi appointed the chief prosecutor late last year despite an outcry from many in the judiciary who accused him of trampling on their right to choose the top prosecutor.

A court ruling last week declared Morsi’s appointment void, a verdict he will likely appeal.

“There is no contact between us and the presidency. ... Just like we moved against someone who insults Christianity, we moved against someone who is accused of insulting Islam,” he said.

Youssef is the host of the weekly political satire show known for his skits lampooning Morsi and Egypt’s newly empowered Islamist political class. But he also mocks the opposition and the media.

The fast-paced show has attracted a wide viewership while at the same time earning its share of detractors. Youssef has been a frequent target of lawsuits, most of them brought by Islamist lawyers who accused him of “corrupting morals” or violating “religious principles.”

Youssef has fact-checked the president, and in one particularly popular episode earlier this year, he played video clips showing remarks by Morsi, made in 2010 before he became president, calling Zionists “pigs.”

The remarks caused a brief diplomatic tiff with the U.S. administration, and Morsi had to issue a statement to defuse the flap.

In his last episode, Youssef thanked Morsi for providing him with so much material.

Youssef has also made regular jokes about comments by Islamic clerics and presenters on Islamic TV stations, exposing contradictions between their comments and public speeches and what he considers the spirit of Islam.

After turning himself in for questioning, Youssef first tweeted a series of quips from the prosecutor’s office.

“They asked me the color of my eyes. Really,” one said.

Amr Moussa, a former presidential candidate, called the warrant for Youssef’s arrest a “provocation to Egyptians who are known for their love of what is funny.”

“There is nothing odious about criticizing the president,” he said in an emailed statement. “This humanizes the president.”

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