- EGYPT
- May 3, 2016
- 5 minutes read
Rights Organization: Political Prisoner Mohamed Abdel-Ghani Suffers Slow Death in Coup Jail
The health condition of Dr Mohamed Abdel-Ghani, an ophthalmologist in Sharqiya and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Shura Council, has deteriorated as a result of deliberate medical negligence – on the part of prison administration – and inhumane and extremely squalid conditions in Zagazig’s main prison. Prison administration officials refuse to transfer Dr Abdel-Ghani to a hospital to receive medical treatment necessary to save his life.
A member of the Sharqiya detainees defense team said Dr Abdel-Ghani’s health deteriorated so drastically, he can barely talk, adding that Dr Abdel-Ghani also suffers a general physical weakness, due to the subhuman detention conditions that clearly fail to meet the minimum standards of human rights, in addition to the existence of prisoners who suffer from serious diseases. He concluded that imprisonment is essentially a slow murder committed by junta authorities against opponents of the coup and all those who refuse injustice and persecution.
The defense team member also added that Dr Abdel-Ghani has a heart problem for which he had underwent several surgeries, leaving him with severe weakness in the heart muscle – in need of specialized medical care.
Dr Abdel-Ghani’s family hold the Interior Ministry responsible for his safety, affirming that the harsh conditions of his detention are incompatible with the state of his health, with his heart muscle working at no more than 40% efficiency. This doubles their fear for his health, which deteriorated due to the poor conditions of detention, where health-care and medical treatment is almost unheard of.
The family demand he must be transferred to a specialized hospital to save his life, and appeal to all local and international human rights organizations to move quickly to save detainees dying a slow death inside coup prisons.
Security forces arrested Dr Abdel-Ghani on August 20, 2013 following the violent break-up of Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins by coup forces. They hauled him from his home in the city of Zagazig in Sharqiya Province.
Shehab Center for Human Rights stands in full solidarity with Dr Mohamed Abdel-Ghani’s family in their request for his transfer to a hospital near Zagazig Prison for urgent treatment, which is a natural right under the Prison Service law and regulations.
Shehab Center warns the Interior Ministry against the continued use of the policy of deliberate medical neglect of patients which has already led to the death of a large number of political prisoners inside coup jails and detention centers.
Shehab Center reminds the Interior Ministry that this policy amounts to a serious and deliberate crime with no statute of limitations.
Shehab Center for Human Rights #مركز_الشهاب
Monday – May 2, 2016
