The emergency court that handed down these verdicts did not adhere to
minimum fair trial guarantees, and the sentences were not subject to appeal.
Dr. Aboulfotouh's communications with his legal counsel remain severely
restricted, and he continue to be held in solitary confinement and subject to
constant surveillance by prison authorities.
Dr. Aboulfotouh's health condition
Dr. Aboulfotouh's health condition severely deteriorated due to several
episodes of ischemic heart disease (angina), advanced prostate disease, and
inadequate medical care.
On 23 March 2022, Mr. Aboulfotouh was physically assaulted by forces led by
the Inspector of the Prisons Authority for the Tora Prisons Area to which he
was transferred to receive visits. The attack allegedly occurred in retaliation
for his request to register an official complaint about the Tora Prison
Administration's visitation restrictions. As a result, he suffered an angina
attack. The prison administration allowed him to take an arterial dilator twice
over a six-hour period until his condition stabilized.
Dr. Aboulfotouh suffered several heart attacks on 6 June 2022, 1 July 2022,
3 August 2022, and 25 August 2022. The administration of Al-Mazraa Prison ,
where he is permanently detained, reportedly refused to conduct a medical
examination after these events. Although persons associated with him
continued to offer that they cover all costs for necessary medical care, prison
authorities did not respond to their offers. Although Dr. Aboulfotouh´s legal
counsel had also requested the prosecutor's office and the prison
administration to transfer him to a private hospital at his own expense due to
his deteriorating health condition, the prison authorities rejected this request.
On 21 September 2022, persons associated with Dr. Aboulfotouh were
reportedly informed of the occurrence of a new heart attack, but no details on
the circumstances of this event were made available.
Inadequate provision of medical care to detainees in Egyptian prisons
Dr. Aboulfotouh's case is reportedly an illustration of a practice in Egyptian
prisons of deliberately denying medical care to prisoners due to their political
beliefs, often resulting in their deaths. It is alleged that the frequency of such
incidents indicates a potential systematic nature of this practice.
Furthermore, emergency court verdicts, as in the case of Dr. Aboulfotouh,
reportedly reflect the continuation of the Egyptian State's policy of retaliation
against political dissidents and rights activists who are carrying out their
legitimate activities of expressing opinions and defending human rights.
While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of the details of these
allegations, we wish to reiterate our serious concern about renewed information that
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