A television presenter working for Egypt's state-run television said Sunday that she had quit her job to join an ongoing sit-in by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.
Jihan Suleiman told Anadolu Agency that she joined the pro-Morsi sit-in to support democratic "legitimacy" and show that protesters were not "terrorists" as has been alleged by a number of local media outlets.
"I have never been a Morsi supporter or a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer," she said. "But I tendered my resignation and joined the protest to stand up for a just cause."
She also slammed the July 3 military ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, saying the move amounted to a "military coup."
"The coup is nothing but the product of the former regime [of ousted president Hosni Mubarak]; Egyptians must not forget about that regime," she said.
She also accused Egypt's state-run media of "failing to portray the real image" of the pro-Morsi protests.
Ever since his ouster by the army early last month following mass protests against him, Morsi supporters have been staging daily rallies and sit-ins to demand his reinstatement.
The two largest pro-Morsi sit-ins are in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in eastern Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza.
The government has described the twin sit-ins as a "threat to national security" and mandated the interior minister to take "all necessary measures" to disperse them.
AA
