Brotherhood Supreme Guide 'dying slowly' in Egypt, says his daughter

The daughter of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide wrote on her Facebook page yesterday that her father is suffering from illnesses contracted inside the Egyptian prison where he is being incarcerated and doesn’t have any blankets or soap.

Duha Mohamed Badie said that her father is “dying slowly” in Tora prison.

“Blankets have been taken away [from my father’s prison cell]. He has been sleeping on the floor for more than a year now, and without blankets. The only chair in the cell has been taken away,” she wrote.

Since a 2013 military coup that ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, the group’s leaders and members have been subjected to an unprecedented crackdown. A series of arrest campaigns has left hundreds behind bars.

Read: British MPs ask to visit Mohamed Morsi in Egyptian prison

Many members of the Brotherhood, like Badie, are facing multiple trials in multiple court cases and are serving prison sentences or being held in pre-trial detention.

The Egyptian government has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and accuses members of perpetrating violence and terrorism, which they have repeatedly denied.

Mohamed Badie, 74, is suffering from several health problems: “He cannot sit on the floor or get up without leaning on that chair, and he cannot prostrate or even kneel [during the Muslim prayer]. He used to pray [sitting] on that chair.”

Duha Badie also complained that her father is not even allowed to use the washroom in privacy. Officers “storm cells at any time,” violating Badie’s privacy, she wrote.

Duha Badie asked, “How can [this happen to] an old man who has been denied [family] visits for a year and a half, and has been held in solitary confinement for nearly five years?”