Egypt’s April 6 bloc marks 5th anniversary with anti-Mursi protests

Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement has planned mass rallies on Saturday to mark its fifth anniversary and protest against President Mohammed Mursi, Egyptian media has reported.

Despite supporting Mursi during elections last June, the group said Saturday’s protests, dubbed the “Day of Rage,” are to express “dissent” against the president’s latest moves rather than celebrating, reported Ahram Online.

“We supported President Mursi when he ran for presidency. Now, after he issued his constitutional declaration, rammed through a new constitution and failed to meet the goals of the revolution we have joined the ranks of the opposition,” said Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, as quoted by the website.

Maher said in a conference last week the opposition will continue its efforts to overthrow the regime, which he believes “has not fallen on 25 January 2011,” the website said.

Maher added that the interior ministry under Mursi’s reign is “more brutal” when compared to ousted the period of president Hosni Mubarak, Ahram Online reported.

The group said on its Facebook page that Saturday’s protest will call for the “release of its detained members, removal of the country’s prosecutor-general, dignity for citizens, and downfall of the regime,” as quoted by Ahram Online.

Four major marches are scheduled to kick off at 4pm local time from Cairo’s Mohandeseen, Shubra, Imbaba districts and Sayyeda Zeinab mosque central Cairo, the website reported. Other rallies are also expected in Alexandria, Port Said, Mahalla and Minya governorates.

The April 6 movement was established following a strike by textile workers on April 6, 2008 in Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra, a large industrial and agricultural city in Egypt. The group is considered to be among the first youth movements who stood against Mubarak, the website said.

Founders of the group were among the main callers for the Mahalla strike, which later turned into nationwide protests. The strike is considered the first mass public uproar against Mubarak and a step towards the uprising that toppled him in 2011.