The Egyptian Network for Human Rights said that a political detainee called Saleh Badawy died in Wadi Al-Natron prison on 16 March 2021, but the prison did not report it to his family.

The story started on 4 March, when the health of Badawy, who was suffering from liver disease, deteriorated, so Wadi Al-Natron Prison, where he was detained, transferred him to El-Meri Hospital in Alexandria.

Badawy’s family was told that the state was not obliged to pay for his healthcare costs so the family paid for his treatment. On the contrary, the prison denied them from visiting the detainee in a savage violation of international treaties and human values.

The family received a call from their detained relative on 14 March, the last update they heard from him. On 16 March, the hospital updated the prison that Badawy was near the end of his life, but the prison did not report this to his family. Later, and over months, the prison refused to answer the family’s questions about the case of their relative, and the family started searching for Badawy in Alexandria’s hospitals.

Finally, the prison told the family that their detained relative passed away on 16 March, and the prison told Kerdasa Police Station to report the death to the family. Badawy was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to five years in prison on case 30 of 2018, on charges of unauthorised demonstration.