Leading Egyptian columnist delivers stinging attack against Sisi

A leading Egyptian columnist has delivered the most stinging public attack of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that local media has witnessed during the two years of his rule.

Ibrahim Eissa said Sisi presides over a "theocracy" that is no different to the Islamist-led government that the president - then defence minister - overthrew in 2013.

The front-page column in the al-Maqal daily also expressed outrage over a two-year prison sentence issued on Saturday against author Ahmed Naji for publishing a sexually explicit excerpt of his novel that prosecutors said violated "public modesty".

The sentence has angered Egyptian writers who say it's a blatant encroachment on the freedom of expression and artistic creativity enshrined in Egypt's new constitution.

A statement signed by 13 rights groups and published on Sunday called for Naji's immediate release.

Egypt has a tightly controlled press and thousands of dissidents languish in overcrowded jails.

The regime also maintains that Egypt's judiciary is independent, an assertion disputed by rights activists, who say it is beholden to the executive branch.

As military chief, Sisi led the 2013 overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist who was Egypt's first freely elected president.

Sisi was elected the following year in elections widely viewed as a sham.

He has also enjoyed fawning coverage by state and private media mostly owned by influential businessmen.

But the unusually strong criticism by Eissa, a dean of the Egyptian media who supported the 2013 coup and has personally interviewed Sisi, indicates growing discontent among supporters.

Your state violates the constitution, harasses thinkers and creators and jails writers and authors. - Ibrahim Eissa

"Say what you will, Mr. President, and speak at your conferences... as you wish, but the reality of your state is different... Your state violates the constitution, harasses thinkers and creators and jails writers and authors," he wrote.

"Your state is a theocracy, Mr. President, while you are talking all the time of a modern, civilian state."

The growing criticism comes as the Egyptian government has struggled to deliver on promises to stabilise the economy after years of stagnation.

This is a state that witnesses more legal prosecution of writers than what we have seen during the Brotherhood's one-year rule. - Ibrahim Eissa

The bombing of a Russian passenger jet last year dealt a major blow to the country's already faltering tourism industry.

The local currency is weakening and foreign reserves are drying up.

Meanwhile, an insurgency based in the Sinai Peninsula - which grew increasingly assertive after Morsi's ouster - have been increasingly common across the country, adding to the growing sense of crisis in Egypt.

Sisi has meanwhile overseen the harshest crackdown in decades.

Thousands of Islamists and hundreds of secular activists have been kailed. All unauthorized protests have been banned, and activists say the police have reverted to the brutality of the Mubarak years.

The Egyptian president has said his ouster of Morsi saved Egypt from a theocracy and restored civilian, democratic rule. But Eissa called that claim into question.

"Where is this civilian state? Where do you see it?" he wrote, addressing Sisi. "This is a state that witnesses more legal prosecution of writers than what we have seen during the [Muslim] Brotherhood's one-year rule."