News / Egypt

Egypt marks 2011 revolution amid tight security

Monday, 25 January 2016 10:25 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 January 2016 10:30 AM ]

An Egyptian national flag flutters over Cairo's Tahrir Square on January 24, 2016, on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 popular uprising against long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. © AFP

Egypt is marking the fifth anniversary of the 2011 popular uprising that led to the overthrow of former dictator Hosni Mubarak amid beefed up security measures and a fresh spate of arrests and checks in the capital, Cairo.

The Monday anniversary has not drawn much street-based or public activity as well as commemorations, unlike those in previous years.

The center-left Civil Democratic Current, which is also called the Democratic Alliance for Civil Forces and is an alliance of Egyptian political parties, has decided to organize events at its headquarters.

The alliance is also commemorating the first anniversary of the killing of 32-year-old female demonstrator Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, who died of birdshot wounds in clashes with police during an anti-government protest in Cairo’s central Talaat Harb Square on January 24, 2015.

Last June, a court in Cairo handed down a 15-year jail term to First Lieutenant Yasseen Mohamed for killing the renowned leftist female activist.

The anniversary comes as rights activists have criticized stepped-up security measures and the unprecedented security crackdown on opposition members, arguing that the incumbent administration is seeking to muzzle the media, and the number of disappearances has gone up sharply.

Activists have also warned that the government has resorted to extrajudicial killings of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and that the scale of repression is currently much higher than the time Mubarak was in power.

Popular uprising

The 2011 revolution, which began on January 25, led to the overthrow of Mubarak. In an election after Mubarak’s ouster, Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi was elected president.

Morsi was later ousted in a military coup led by former military chief and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013.

Clampdown on opposition

The Egyptian government has been cracking down on any opposition since Morsi was toppled, and Sisi has been accused of leading the suppression of Morsi supporters, as hundreds of them have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces over the past year.

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and members Mohamed al-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy stand behind bars during a trial in the capital, Cairo, on August 22, 2015. © AFP

Rights groups say the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has led to the deaths of over 1,400 people and the arrest of 22,000 others, including some 200 people who have been sentenced to death in mass trials.

The UN Human Rights Council has repeatedly expressed concern over the Egyptian security forces’ heavy-handed crackdown and the killing of anti-government protesters.

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