The Egyptian regime continues to violate the rights of political prisoners and detainees, sometimes resulting in their deaths.
In this regard, the family of Ahmed Youssef Al-Sayyad, an Egyptian prisoner who died behind Egyptian bars, requested—in a letter addressed to the public prosecutor Mohamed Shawqi Ayyad—an investigation into his death at the “Badr 1” prison, citing suspicions that the prison administration had committed “a felony against him.”
“The condition that we saw of the body of our deceased indicates that the death was unnatural, both in terms of color, bruises, and the presence of traces on the skin, as well as the general appearance of the body,” the Egyptian prisoner’s family stated in the letter.
The deceased’s family continued, saying, “Like his fellow inmates, he always voiced his complaints about the numerous intentional violations that have occurred inside the prison in the recent period. This raises the possibility that the death was not natural and is being investigated as a felony. We hold the Egyptian Prisons Service and those in charge of Badr Prison 1 accountable for the death.”
Ahmed Al-Sayyad, 40, is a trader who lives in the village of Dalga, Deir Mawas center in the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. He was detained and held in the “Badr 1” prison over a political case, after the Egyptian regime accused him of joining a terrorist organisation, a charge directed against most of the political opponents.
It should be noted that Egyptian prisons usually lack basic health necessities like wholesome food, well-kept restrooms suitable for the number of inmates, lighting, ventilation, and physical activity. In addition, the majority of them deal with extreme prisoner overcrowding in their facilities.
