The Egyptian Ministry of Interior announced in a statement, on Saturday, the opening of the door for visits to prisoners in all detention facilities in the country, according to “regulations,” starting next week.

This decision came two days after the death of the Muslim Brotherhood leader, Essam El-Erian, in his prison, and after about five months of stopping the visits for fear of the repercussions of Coronavirus. The ministry said, “It decided to return visits to prisoners in all public prisons and penitentiaries (a group of underage prisons) under specific controls related to the preventive measures taken to protect inmates from Corona infection.” The ministry added that the visit would be for 20 minutes, once a month, and for one visitor per inmate, wearing masks and a safe distance during the visits. The decision comes two days after Egyptian media announced that the death of El-Erian was due to a sudden heart attack. At the same time, Opponents accused the authorities, through their Twitter accounts, of causing his death “intentionally” as a result of what they called “deliberate health negligence.”

The number of prisoners and detainees in Egypt ranges from 110 to 140 thousand prisoners and detainees, among them 26,000 are held in pretrial detention. According to statements by the Egyptian journalist loyal to the regime, “Mohamed El-Baz,” no judicial verdicts have been issued against them, quoting sources in the Egyptian Prisons Authority.