WATCH: Egyptian protesters overturn police truck on 'Palacegate' anniversary

Egyptian protesters angry at the potential demolition of unlicensed buildings in their village have overturned a police truck on the first anniversary of last year's demonstrations against presidential corruption.

MENA

3 min read

�� Staff

20 September, 2020

Protesters in Kadiya managed to overpower police [Twitter]

Protests against the government of broke out in the village of Kadiya in Egypt's Giza Governorate south of Cairo on Sunday, following a call to demonstrate by , an Egyptian businessman and anti-Sisi activist who last year revealed details of presidential corruption.

A video uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter showed protesters overturning an empty police truck after police officers fled the village.

There has been growing anger in Egypt following a government campaign to demolish unlicensed buildings throughout the country.

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Local sources told ��’s Arabic-language service that every building which had been built in the village over the past twenty years had been recorded as unlicensed by Egyptian authorities, leading to great anger among its residents.

The sources said that the protesters had gone out into the streets after noon prayers.

Policemen initially tried to confront the protesters, who were chanting: "Sisi out… we don’t want you!"

The protesters then gathered around the police vehicle, managing to chase away the policemen before overturning it, according to the sources, who emphasised that the protesters did not belong to any opposition party or movement.

The sources added that local members of the Nation’s Future party, which supports Sisi, warned that reinforcements could be sent to the village to besiege it or place it under curfew, but that this has not happened yet.

Opposition activist Mohammed Ali, who lives in Spain, called on Egyptians to demonstrate on 20 September, which is the first anniversary of .

Those protests followed Ali’s revelations that Sisi had used millions of dollars in public funds to build luxurious palaces for himself and his family, at a time when poverty was increasing in Egypt and the government was imposing austerity measures on the population.

While thousands of people protested at the time, the Egyptian government , arresting hundreds of activists, and the protests fizzled out.

On Saturday, against Sisi and security forces made several arrests. There were reports that protests were continuing in Suez on Sunday.

Security forces on Sunday closed off a number of squares and roads in the Egyptian capital Cairo and deployed near the Lawyers' and Journalists' Syndicates in the centre of the city to prevent any attempt to protest there.

Sisi deposed Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in a military coup in 2013 and became president the following year.

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