Policy

In the Wake of Recent Coup Police in Egypt Are Seen as the Good Guys

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Reason

Amid all of the political uncertainty that has followed last week's coup in Egypt the police are being viewed as heroes by those who supported former President Morsi being removed from power. In 2011, the police were widely criticized for their abusive reputation and their crackdown on anti-Mubarak demonstrators. Now, it seems that past police abuses are being forgotten while transitional authorities try to address instability.

From NPR:

Egypt has undergone profound change over the past 10 days. The military has overthrown an elected Islamist president and is back in control of the country amid deadly clashes between Islamists and the state security forces.

There's been another change as well: Egypt's police, long reviled by much of the population, have become unlikely heroes for opponents of the now-ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

During Egypt's 2011 uprising, revolutionaries fought pitched street battles with the police force, the protector of the autocratic regime.

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