Al-Shihab Centre for Human Rights has announced the death of Mohammed Kabakb in the Dekheila Police Station in Alexandria Governorate, due to medical negligence. The centre said in its statement that Kabakb was suffering from chronic asthma and hypertension, and that his health deteriorated due to the overcrowded conditions and cigarette smoke that filled the cells. The centre added that this is not the first death in the Dekheila Police Station. Raafat Hamid also died as a result of torture after his bones were fractured in February.

This is the nineteen death in Egyptian prisons and police stations due to medical negligence or torture since the beginning of 2020.

The death of the detainee comes at a time when there are demands for the release of all those inside prison for fear a coronavirus outbreak inside would be deadly.

According to Amnesty International’s report, 917 prisoners died between June 2013 and November 2019, including 677 as a result of medical negligence and 136 as a result of torture.