Egypt: Lawyers say police rounded up hundreds over protests

CAIRO — Egyptian rights lawyers say security forces have rounded up hundreds of people following small and infrequent anti-government protests.

The protests broke out in several Egyptian cities including the capital, Cairo, over the weekend, calling for President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to step down.

All protests were quickly broken up by police. But they marked a startling eruption of street unrest, which has been almost completely silenced in recent years by draconian measures imposed under Sissi.

Lawyers Malek Adly and Khaled el-Masry say security forces had arrested at least 400 people in Cairo and elsewhere across the country.

El-Masry says prosecutors have questioned at least 220 people, over claims that they took part in activities of an outlawed group, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood group, and disseminating false news.

— AP

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