THREE years after huge crowds of Egyptians rallied to oust Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, democratic hopes have given way to a spiralling crackdown on freedoms in the name of stability.On June 30 2013, millions took to the streets of Cairo and other cities to call for the removal of Morsi, whose rule had been deeply divisive.Their hopes were fulfilled on July 3 when the army stepped in for the second time in less than three years to remove a president following mass protests — only unlike veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Morsi had been democratically elected.Now that former military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has become president, the state tolerates no more protests, and little criticism."When I look back on June 30 2013, I feel that we were deceived and deployed by part of the state," prominent rights lawyer Gamal Eid says.For secular activists, there were initial hopes after the military installed a government with former chief judge Adly Mansour as interim president, and a lib...
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