The defence team of former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, head of the Strong Egypt Party, has submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecution against the administration of Tora Farm Prison to investigate an assault he was subjected.

The official Facebook page of Aboul Fotouh issued a statement denouncing what it described as a barbaric assault. The statement held the regime, the Minister of Interior, the Assistant Minister of Interior for the Prison Authority Sector, and the prison’s warden full and direct responsibility for his life and physical and psychological safety.

The assault promptly resulted in a severe heart attack. Despite this, the prison administration’s response was limited to giving Aboul Fotouh a vasodilator twice over six hours until his condition stabilized, according to the statement. The assault took place when Aboul Fotouh requested to meet with the prison warden to draft a report stating his refusal to receive visits. However, he was informed that the warden was not available. According to the statement, he insisted on waiting for him and ended up being forced into his cell by several soldiers, who used violence against him by pushing him hard.

Aboul Fotouh, 70, has refused to receive visits since January 29 in protest against his poor conditions inside the prison. Aboul Fotouh spent more than four years in pretrial detention, which began on February 14, 2018, and was referred to trial before the Supreme State Security Criminal Court on several charges, including leading a terrorist group.