Secretary-General of Egypt doctors’ union resigns over Essam El-Erian obituary

The Secretary-General of the Egyptian Doctors Syndicate announced his resignation on Wednesday after the union published an obituary for its former treasurer, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Essam El-Erian, who died in prison south of Cairo, last week.

In a statement on the syndicate’s Facebook page, Ehab Al-Taher explained that his resignation came after “many reproaches from people who thought that he was behind the obituary of El-Erian, and the negative reactions from doctors and citizens.”

He confirmed that he “never participated in that,” stressing the syndicate’s apology.

He said that the decision to publish the obituary “was led by young doctors in good intention before they became aware of the mistake.”

READ: Senior Muslim Brotherhood official dies in Egypt jail

The syndicate, whose council is mostly led by pro-regime doctors, published on its Facebook page on Saturday: “Essam El-Erian, the former treasurer of the syndicate, has passed away. Our sincere condolences to his family; May he rest in peace.”

The post was deleted a few hours after it was published, following a fierce campaign led by pro-regime local media and a judicial report against the syndicate, which called on it to publish an explanation and an apology.

The authorities banned the Brotherhood, to which El-Erian belongs, just months after the late president Mohamed Morsi was ousted from power in July 2013.

El-Erian was elected as a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate in 1986, and held the position of assistant general secretary, in addition to being the treasurer of the union for several years.