Detainees in new Egypt's Badr prison complex complain about conditions

Detainees that have been transferred to the new Badr prison complex in Egypt have complained about the conditions there, reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Egyptian authorities tried to sell the prison in an effort to improve the conditions of prisons and detainees following severe international condemnation.

One of the detainees being held in the new complex is Anas El-Beltagy, son of the prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader and physician Mohamed El-Beltagy.

Mohamed was arrested shortly after the Rabaa massacre and in 2018 was sentenced to death in a mass trial alongside 739 other people and it’s believed that his son Anas is being punished because of him.

During his last video clip Anas complained that there was bright lighting in his cell which prevented him from sleeping, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

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Other detainees have said that the cells are monitored by cameras and that there are flashlights shining continually into them.

Families of the detainees have also complained that they are not allowed to visit their loved ones and that food, books, clothes and blankets had been restricted.

The National Council for Human Rights has said that families are not allowed to visit the prisoners who have not had visits for six years previously in Scorpion Prison.

The prison was opened in October last year around the same time as the new Wadi El-Natrun Prison.

At the time the Interior Ministry hosted a tour of the new prison and boasted about swimming pools, sports grounds and a fully equipped hospital.

However, at the time human rights organisations said that the opening of the new prison coincided with the abolition of the state of emergency and an attempt by Cairo to relieve international pressure on its human rights record.

We Record told MEMO that the construction of the new prison complexes was an indication that the Sisi regime was predicting further challenges to his rule and possibly another revolution in the years ahead.