Egypt : Rare pro-democratic protests demand Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s resignation post alleged corruption charges

Cairo, Sep 21: Thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of several cities across Egypt on Friday, to demand President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s resignation, who was allegedly charged over corruption.

On Friday, footage on social media depicted protesters chanting “rise up, fear not, Sisi must go” and “the people demand the regime’s fall”. Dissenters rallied in capital Cairo – the second-largest province of Suez and Alexandria.

Police officers dressed in civilian uniform confronted the protesters who attempted entering Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Though, Al-Jazeera is prohibited from reporting from inside the nation, they covered several reports of detention that were made in the capital, as well as, the use of tear gas on protesters.

The development came post self-exiled Egpyt’s actor and businessman Mohamed Ali accused Sisi of corruption and further called on civilians to take to the streets and demand the removal of the president. However, Sisi dismissed the accusations as “lies”.

“If el-Sisi does not announce his resignation by Thursday, then the Egyptian people will come out to the squares on Friday in protest,” Ali said in footage posted on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/EslamMu7/status/1175127399408766977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1175127399408766977&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F09%2Fegypt-thousands-streets-demanding-sisi-resignation-190920205701643.html

Ali started posting his videos from Sep 2 with his latest video viewed more than hundreds of thousands of times that turned him into a public figure.

In a video posted on Friday, Ali encouraged civilians of Egypt to stand strong and united, and continue demanding their fundamental rights.

“God is great … enough already, I want to come back to Egypt. I miss Egypt and my people. May God strengthen your resolve,” he said.