The top leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood accused Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief, widely tipped to become the country’s next president, of being a tyrant and predicted he would fail to stay in power. Speaking on 1 April from a cage in a courtroom where he faces trial for inciting violence, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie also dismissed accusations by the military-backed government that the group engaged in terrorism. “The people will not accept an army tyrant,” Badie said in reference to Sisi, who resigned from the military on 2 April in order to contest a presidential election on May 26-27.
Sisi toppled President Mohamed Morsi, who was freely elected in 2012 after many years rising through the Brotherhood, last July after mass protests against his rule. His ouster was followed by one of the toughest security crackdowns on the Brotherhood in its 86-year history.