The 80-year-old imprisoned lawyer and former Egyptian MP Ragab Muhammad Abu Zaid Zair died in Egypt’s Al-Qanater Prison after being subjected to medical negligence.
The former MP died after suffering serious health deterioration, which led to his transfer to the intensive care unit in the medical centre of the Wadi El-Natrun prison, where he breathed his last.
Zair was suffering from many health problems, including chronic bronchitis, prostate disease, heart failure, diabetes, and hand nerve compression syndrome. He underwent heart surgery. His detention deepened his health’s deterioration in light of the systematic medical negligence in prison.
Zair was first arrested in December 2013 and re-arrested in October 2021, despite his advanced age.
Zair is the seventh prisoner to breathe his last in Egyptian custody since the start of the year.
The six other victims include Ramadan Youssef Ashry, Muhammad Mustafa Badawi, Muhammad Al-Sayyid Al-Mursi, Saad Mahmoud Abdel-Ghani Khader, Mahmoud Al-Didamouni, and Sameh Tolba.
Inhumane detention conditions have long plagued Egypt’s prisons, adversely affecting prisoners’ rights to adequate medical treatment and health care.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
