CAIRO: The Journalists’ Syndicate has filed an official memo to Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, demanding the investigation of rumors that Reda Helal, the former managing editor of Al-Ahram daily who disappeared six years ago, is being held in an Egyptian prison.
In its memo, the Syndicate said that it has received information from Helal’s family indicating that he is now at Borg Al-Arab Prison in Alexandria under a false name.
Hisham Gaafar, from the prosecutor’s office, heard the testimony of Helal’s brother, Osama Helal, on Thursday for an hour.
According to Helal, the family has been receiving anonymous letters that indicate that his brother is alive inside Borg Al-Arab prison.
On the other hand, Sayed Abou Zeid, legal consultant at the Journalists’ Syndicate, asked the attorney general to search the suspected prison as a first step to check the claims made by Helal’s family.
Reda Helal, 45, mysteriously disappeared from his home on Aug.11, 2003 and has not been seen or heard from since.
