July 5, 2019

Nine human rights organisations have condemned what they describe as “arbitrary measures and [the] continuing abuse” of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, former presidential candidate and President of the Strong Egypt Party.

In an official statement the organisations accused the Egyptian authorities of being responsible for ” significant deterioration in the case of Abdel Fotouh’s health,” and said that “he faces arbitrary deprivation of specialised health care by the judicial and executive authorities led by the prison administration, causing his health to seriously deteriorate.”

The statement quoted Fatouh’s family who said that he had suffered heart attacks, the last of which were on June 28 and 29 last year, in addition to suffering from serious complications because of “the absence of health care in prison.”

The organisations called on international bodies to intervene to save Fotouh’s life and prevent the recurrence of the death of former President Mohamed Morsi, who was denied health care throughout his imprisonment.

It also called on human rights organisations, the UN and regional bodies “to stop the phenomenon of systematic medical negligence by the Egyptian authorities to liquidate political [opponents] at the expense of the freedom and lives of dissidents.”

Egyptian authorities arrested Fotouh at his home on 14 February 2018 and accused him of holding secret meetings with members of the international branch of the Muslim Brotherhood abroad and seeking to implement a plan aimed at causing instability.

On February 15, the State Security Prosecution charged him with case No. 440 of 2018 for publishing false news and joining a terrorist group. It came days after Fotouh appeared on a number of television channels to criticise the regime. 

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, Comte for Justice, the Freedom Initiative, the Nadim Center, the Biladi Centre for Rights and Freedoms, the Adalah Centre for Rights and Freedoms and the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights all condemned the abuse.