51-year-old man arrested for ‘massing’ for Friday protest

CAIRO – 26 September 2019: The Egyptian authorities arrested a 51-year-old man over publishing posts on his Facebook account, inciting people to demonstrate on Friday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior on Thursday.

The accused person is a real estate broker in Sharabia district, Cairo, the statement said, adding that he posted video footages of Al Jazeera and Mekameelin, calling people to take to the streets on Friday and protest against President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

The security forces also seized three mobiles, a camera and 10,000 vouchers of LE 500 to be distributed among youth in return for participating in Friday protests, the statement added.

The Egyptian security forces are on alert ahead of anti-government protests on Friday. The Friday protests are the second wave of rare and small protests in Egypt since April 2015, when dozens of people demonstrated against handing over the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the Aqaba Gulf to Saudi Arabia.