Cairo Criminal Court has decided to renew the detention of the Strong Egypt Party head and former presidential candidate, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, for 45 days, pending a case in which he faces charges of leading and financing a terrorist group. Aboul Fotouh had said during a court session that the prison administration was being subjected to a “slow death” because it refused to transfer him to a hospital.

Ahmed Abul-Ela Madi’s lawyer said that Aboul Fotouh had suffered clots that resulted in a blockage in the arteries, which required medical examinations and x-rays that were not present in the prison hospital, to the need for prostate surgery. Madi said he submitted requests to the Presidency of the Republic, the Attorney General, the Prisons Authority, and the National Council for Human Rights but received no response.

Aboul Fotouh, 71, suffered health crises in his solitary confinement in Tora Prison, including a severe heart attack that human rights reports described as “fatal” in July 2021. In January, UN experts expressed grave concern about his health, denouncing the conditions of his detention and the lack of adequate medical care. Aboul Fotouh’s son, Hudhaifah, said that although his father’s condition continued to deteriorate, all his medical requests were ignored.