By Sarah El-Sheikh
Following the Friday prayer, tens of Muslim Brotherhood supporters reportedly protested in different cities across Egypt.
The demonstrations took place in various areas in several Egyptian governorates including Giza, Alexandria, Suez, Qaliubiya, Al-Arish, and Sohag.
Two of the protesters in Al-Arish governorate were arrested on charges of organising marches that aim to incite violence, state-run news agency MENA reported. On the other hand, the Ministry of Interior did not confirm the number of protesters arrested.
Last Thursday, the Anti-Coup National Alliance issued a statement calling on its loyalists to launch a new “revolutionary week” under the title “Save Egypt’’, to “continue their revolution to the end”.
According to the statement, the alliance said the protests were “to speak up against the injustice practiced by the Egyptian government”, noting that youth activists have been detained for “inaccurate reasons”. The statement also condemned the increasingly deteriorating social and economic conditions.
“Young people are imprisoned, workers displaced and revolutionaries arrested and killed, while the murderers and the corrupt officials of ousted [president] Mubarak’s gang are discharged, acquitted and exonerated,” the statement said. “Meanwhile, poverty increases, economic collapse approaches faster than ever, and the high costs of living have caught everyone.”
The issuing of the Protest Law by the interim government in November 2013 came at a time of frequent clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces. However, since the law was enacted, a sweeping crackdown was launched against a number of students and activists on charges of “illegal assembly”.
At least 16,000 were arrested following the ouster of the Brotherhood regime in 2013, according to international human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
