Over three hundred prisoners in Egypt have
gone on hunger strike to protest against “ill-
treatment” and the conditions they’re being
held in.
The prisoners, who went on hunger strike on
Monday, have said their cells are full of insects
and that they are allowed to go outside for just
half an hour a day. They also said there are up
to 60 prisoners to a cell.
A Twitter account operated by Muslim
Brotherhood, which has largely been driven
underground by a massive crackdown, said
prisoners have been “banned from family
visits, legal counselling, medical care and (live
in) overcrowded and unhygienic cells.”
Egyptian security forces have arrested
thousands of Islamists, including virtually the
entire top leadership of Morsi’s Muslim
Brotherhood, since he was deposed on July 3.
The 85-year-old political and social movement
prevailed in a series of polls following the
overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and
Morsi became the country’s first freely elected
leader after winning elections last year.
But his turbulent year-long rule was deeply
polarising, and the military forced him from
power after massive protests in which
demonstrators accused him of betraying the
2011 “revolution.”
The Brotherhood said several senior figures
were taking part in the strike, including the
wealthy financier and onetime presidential
hopeful Khairat al-Shater, senior official
Essam al-Erian, former legislator Mohamed
Beltagi and Essam al-Haddad, an adviser to
Morsi during his presidency.
It did not say whether Morsi himself or the
Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed
Badie were also taking part in the hunger
strike.
Earlier this month Human Rights Watch said
Egypt’s military-installed authorities had
detained five Morsi aides for nearly five
months without disclosing their whereabouts,
saying it amounted to an “enforced
disappearance".
gone on hunger strike to protest against “ill-
treatment” and the conditions they’re being
held in.
The prisoners, who went on hunger strike on
Monday, have said their cells are full of insects
and that they are allowed to go outside for just
half an hour a day. They also said there are up
to 60 prisoners to a cell.
A Twitter account operated by Muslim
Brotherhood, which has largely been driven
underground by a massive crackdown, said
prisoners have been “banned from family
visits, legal counselling, medical care and (live
in) overcrowded and unhygienic cells.”
Egyptian security forces have arrested
thousands of Islamists, including virtually the
entire top leadership of Morsi’s Muslim
Brotherhood, since he was deposed on July 3.
The 85-year-old political and social movement
prevailed in a series of polls following the
overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and
Morsi became the country’s first freely elected
leader after winning elections last year.
But his turbulent year-long rule was deeply
polarising, and the military forced him from
power after massive protests in which
demonstrators accused him of betraying the
2011 “revolution.”
The Brotherhood said several senior figures
were taking part in the strike, including the
wealthy financier and onetime presidential
hopeful Khairat al-Shater, senior official
Essam al-Erian, former legislator Mohamed
Beltagi and Essam al-Haddad, an adviser to
Morsi during his presidency.
It did not say whether Morsi himself or the
Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed
Badie were also taking part in the hunger
strike.
Earlier this month Human Rights Watch said
Egypt’s military-installed authorities had
detained five Morsi aides for nearly five
months without disclosing their whereabouts,
saying it amounted to an “enforced
disappearance".
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