Three political detainees in Egypt continue their open hunger strike for the tenth consecutive day, protesting against their arbitrary detention.
Doctor Walid Shawqi, Abdul Rahman Tariq “Mocha,” and Ahmed Maher “Rego”, are detained in the Mazraa prison inside Tora prison, in detention pending investigations. They have been arrested for political reasons and have received acquittal orders; however, the Egyptian judiciary system included their names in new cases.
Abdul Rahman Tariq has been detained since 2013, Walid Shawqi has been detained since October 14, 2018, and Ahmed Maher has been detained since May 4, 2020.
In addition to the systematic and deliberate policy of medical negligence against political detainees, the prison authorities keep their news and health status secret.
Walid Shawky’s family had issued a statement expressing concern over his physical and psychological health and urged the Public Prosecutor to release him in order to save his life.
The family said: “We are afraid that we might lose Walid without him having committed any crime, while he is being detained pending two cases.”
According to human rights organisations, there are more than 60,000 political detainees in Egypt.
The Egyptian authorities use pretrial detention excessively as a kind of punishment, despite it being an exceptional measure in Egyptian law, which turned into a tool to violate the freedom of opinion and expression. Thus, pretrial detention became a serious punishment without having to be issued by the judiciary.
