Another Arab Spring Is Coming to Egypt
Egypt’s January 25, 2011 uprising is history, and – depending on how upcoming five-year anniversary protests play out – so may be the uprising’s aspirations for “bread, freedom, and social justice”.
Brute force
.
Egypt’s security forces, embarrassed during the country’s 2011 uprising, seem to have taken one important lesson from their experiences – that the force they employed to protect Mubarak wasn’t enough.
Following the 2013 coup, security forces arrested more than 40,000 people and committed several mass killings, killing more than 2,500 people in all.
Upcoming anniversary protests
.
Sisi’s government is clearly concerned about upcoming protests planned for January 25. An Egyptian security official told Reuters that the government has “taken several measures to ensure activists don’t have breathing space and are unable to gather”.
The government has recently arrested several dozen Facebook page administrators for allegedly “inciting protests”, and sent directives to religious leaders to deliver sermons about patriotism and security. The security forces have also raided random homes to check Facebook accounts for signs of dissent.
