Egyptians in Saudi Arabia protest over alleged police 'brutality'

Hundreds of Egyptians living in Saudi Arabia joined an angry protest after an Egyptian was reportedly beaten by a Saudi police officer.

The protest sprang up minutes after reports that a police officer had dragged a man from his car, beaten him and verbally abused him.

The incident happened in Mecca on Sunday, some 150 metres from the entrance to the al-Haram compound, considered the holiest site in Islam.

Eyewitnesses told popular local news site Okaz that the altercation began as a traffic dispute when the officer suspected of using excessive force approached the Egyptian national, who was sitting in a parked car with his brother, and told him to move the car.

According to witnesses, the argument quickly escalated – the Egyptian national, who did not give his name, later described the incident as “brutal”.

Shakey amateur footage shows a man laid out in a car with a bandage on his face, surrounded by shouting crowds who gathered within minutes – the video, which has been viewed over 60,000 times, could not be independently verified.

The crowd repeated angry chants, calling on the Egyptian government to hold Saudi authorities to account for the alleged attack.

The protesters shouted “we want our rights” and “where are you Sisi?”, also repeating the phrase “Long live Egypt”, which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi used as his slogan during election campaigning last year.

An estimated 1.7 million Egyptians live and work in Saudi Arabia, and are subject to the same strict laws as nationals.

In March 2013 an Egyptian man was killed and three others injured during a police raid on a market in the central region of al-Qassim – ministry statements said the men, who worked at the market, had clashed violently with police.A wave of public anger followed the killing, with thousands joining a protest that blocked off a main road in the men’s hometown of Beni Suef, some 120 kilometres south of the capital Cairo.

The men’s families, who said their relatives had been forced to seek work abroad in order to earn a living, demanded that the Egyptian government, at the time under the leadership of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, hold Saudi authorities to account for the killing 

Cairo-based human rights group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information is frequently critical of the Saudi government and has previously accused the security forces of using excessive force against civilians 

The organisation’s website and blog are both banned in Saudi Arabia.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia currently enjoy strong diplomatic relations, and the oil-rich Gulf kingdom provides significant financial aid to cash-strapped Egypt.

Days after then-army chief Sisi led the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi in July 2013, Saudi Arabia pledged a $5 billion aid package – reports last October suggested that Saudi and Emirati officials were mulling a further $5 billion cash injection to boost Egypt’s weak foreign currency reserves.