Egypt slams McCain criticism of Sissi’s ‘unprecedented crackdown’

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry expresses its “absolute rejection” of a statement by US Sen. John McCain criticizing the country’s crackdown on human rights and democracy under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The statement comes on the seventh anniversary of the January 25, 2011, popular uprising that toppled Egypt’s longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of instability punctuated by military and Islamist rule, and Sissi’s rise to power.

The ministry says McCain’s remarks “included unfounded accusations, fallacies, and misinformation” and “flimsy claims.”

McCain’s comments yesterday say that “over the past few years, we have witnessed Egypt lurch dangerously backwards. President Sissi’s unprecedented crackdown on political activism and fundamental human rights has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissidents, including 19 American citizens and nearly 3,500 young people.”

— AP