Calls for President Abdel Fattah el Sisi to step down over corruption allegations moved from social media to the street on Friday night, marking some of the first demonstrations Egypt has seen since Sisi came to power in a military takeover six years ago.
Protesters,
many of them young people, rallied in the capital Cairo, as well as
several smaller Egyptian cities, chanting, "Sisi get out."
Sisi,
who ousted the country's first democratically elected president in a
2013 coup, has shown zero tolerance for protest during his rule.
Those who challenge his ban on unauthorized demonstrations are
sentenced to lengthy prison sentences and face harsh punishments.
But
Egyptians were spurred to the streets after calls on social media from
Mohamed Ali, a former building contractor who worked with the country's
military.. Ali has posted a series of videos on Facebook accusing Sisi
and other officials of misusing public funds.
Sisi has dismissed the allegations as "lies and slanders."
On Friday evening, hundreds of
anti-regime protesters gathered in Cairo, near Tahrir Square -- the
epicenter of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution -- demanding Sisi's
resignation.
Security forces could be seen using riot vans to chase demonstrators down a main thoroughfare in the capital
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