Report: 264 died from medical negligence in Egyptian prisons

As many as 264 detainees in Egyptian prisons are reported to have died due to medical negligence since the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights reported.

In a statement released on 2 August the UK- based watchdog said 72 people died since the start of 2015.

Other human rights centres said Dr Essam Derbala, chairman of Islamic Group “Jamaa Al-Islamiya” Shura Council in Qena and Mohammad Mehdi Hajjaj died in the past 24 hours.

According to the Arab African Centre for Freedom and Human Rights, Mohamed Mehdi Hajjaj died in the Raml police station after local officers denied the entry of his medication and refused to transfer him to a local hospital when his health deteriorated.

The list of opposition figures who perished in Egypt’s prisons due to medical negligence include senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Farid Ismail who died in May, the oldest political prisoner in Egypt Sheikh Nabil Maghribi who died in June as well as Sheikh Morgan Salem Jouhari, a former member of the Shura Council of the Jihad organisation.

As of August, four political prisoners died in prison including Sheikh Izzat Salamoni, Ahmed Ghozlan, Sheikh Morgan Salem Jouhari and Mahmoud Hanafi of the Muslim Brotherhood.