28th political prisoner in 2021 dies in Gamsa Prison

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Mohamed Anwar, 72, died on Monday inside his cell in Gamsa high security prison after eight years of detention.

According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights and Shehab Centre, Anwar has been detained since 2013 on case 2561 of 2013 on charges of burning the courts complex in Ismailia. The military criminal court in Ismailia sentenced Anwar along with over 312 defendants to 15 years imprisonment.

Anwar is the 28th political detainee to die in Egypt’s prisons in 2021. The first in 2021 was Reda Mahmoud, who died on 9 January inside Belbis Police Station. According to ENHR, in 2020 79 political detainees died in different prisons and detention centres.

Over the past several years, 774 deaths of political detainees have been recorded, on top of them was the death of late president Mohamed Morsi in court during his trial on 17 June 2019, after years of humiliation, denial of visits and intentional medical negligence.