Egypt Junta Torture of Muslim Brotherhood Senior Leader Beltagy Continues

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Saad El-Katatni (R), head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), sits in the defendant's cage beside the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie during their trial with other Brotherhood leaders in a courtroom in Cairo December 11, 2013. Prominent members of the Brotherhood were arrested in a state crackdown on the group following the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi and are charged with perpetrating violence during July's clashes. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW)

The family of Muslim Brotherhood leader Dr Mohamed Beltagy said he suffers brutality, harassment and other violations in the most notorious jails – since he was arrested in August 2013.

This came in an open letter from Dr Beltagy’s family on Friday (November 11). Dr Beltagy is held in severe squalid conditions in harsh high-security Aqrab Prison. The letter detailed the Muslim Brotherhood leader’s journey in Egyptian prisons, since he was arrested and brought to trial on false charges including “incitement to commit acts of violence”, which he denies.

Dr Beltagy’s family said he was thrown in a solitary confinement cell, which was basically a toilet, for two months. He was also held in a ‘disciplinary’ cell in Liman Tora Prison.

It added that he was transferred to Aqrab Prison on December 21, 2013 to be locked in a solitary-confinement ward, in a solid cell (with no windows at all), where he had no ventilation, nor electricity. This forced him to start a complete hunger-strike, demanding jail governors transfer him to a normal cell and treat him like other detainees.

“Attacks and atrocities against Dr Beltagy did not stop then. In August 6 (2016), two security officials tortured him naked and filmed him.

“The day following that torture session, while attending court hearings, Dr Beltagy mentioned details of the torture he suffered to the judge and court officials. As soon as he returned to his cell, an attempt at his life was executed. And once again, he mentioned details of this assassination attempt in (a different) court. Nevertheless, no-one moved a finger, an no investigation was ever started into these incidents.

elbeltagi mohd badie1“Abuses and violations against Dr Beltagy are particularly vindictive since he lodged a formal statement accusing general Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his junta of murdering his only daughter Asmaa.”
In August 14, 2013, Asmaa Beltagy was shot dead with a sniper’s bullet in Rabaa Square, east of Cairo, along with hundreds of others by coup army and police forces as these forces ferociously broke-up a peaceful sit-in by Egyptians who refused the coup and supporters of Dr Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected civilian president in Egypt.

In the violent break-up of the Rabaa sit-in 632 people were killed, including eight policemen, according to the coup government’s National Council for Human Rights. Meanwhile, international (and local) human rights organizations said a moderate estimate would put the death toll at more than one thousand protesters.

Dr Beltagy’s family mentioned that atrocities and violations against him included “senior security officials ordering and executing raids into his cell at night, with police dogs; cutting off electricity to his cell; and causing him physical injury by deliberately setting fire in his solitary-confinement cell while he slept at night”.

Dr Beltagy’s family further mentioned that prison authorities banned him from receiving any food, drink or medicines from visits. His visits are often banned for long months.

Dr Beltagy’s family’s fears for him double with the approaching cold winter: “The prison administration does not allow him winter clothing or blankets in the winter. In fact, the take away the only blanket he has, leaving him to sleep on the bare floor. They also prevent him from exercise. When they rarely do let him exercise, they keep him handcuffed.

“For many months, we do not know whether they (Aqrab Prison detainees) are alive or dead. Visits are banned, and he (Dr Beltagy) is not allowed to see his son Anas, who is also a detainee at the same jail for more than three years now. This is some of the atrocities Dr Beltagy is suffering in prison.”

The Muslim Brotherhood