Egypt: Opponents of Sisi launch anti-regime group

Egypt’s regime must stop its “repressive practices against dissidents”, Egyptian expatriates said yesterday, calling for the overthrow of what they described as “military rule”.

On the occasion of the launching of the “Egyptian National Action Group,” the anti-regime conglomerate explained in a statement that the political group was launched “in light of the consensus on a number of principles and priorities, as well as the circumstances that Egypt has been witnessing under the military dictatorship.”

The opposition group warned of what it described as “the continuation of the military regime to neglect the homeland’s wealth and capabilities, humiliate and suppress citizens and endanger Egypt’s national security.”

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 Since becoming president in 2014, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has overseen a far-reaching crackdown that has swept up opponents. At least 60,000 people have been jailed, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Al-Sisi has repeatedly denied torturing and detaining political prisoners and his backers say the measures were necessary to stabilise Egypt after the 2011 uprising which brought an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.