(Photo from FJP)
A prisoner died in Menufiya on Wednesday due to inadequate healthcare in prison, claimed his lawyer.
Tarek Al-Ghandour suffered from liver dysfunction and was imprisoned in Abou Zaabal and then Wadi El-Natrun prisons.
On Saturday, he was transferred to a general medical centre in the city of Shebin Al-Koom in Menufiya; four days later he reportedly encountered bleeding from oesophageal varices, and died after six hours.
Al-Ghandour, who works a doctor and head of dermatology department in Ain Shams University, was arrested from his home in December 2013 and sentenced to five years in jail on counts of rioting, inciting violence and joining a terrorist group.
His lawyer, Huda Abdulmoneim said: “We sent several official requests to the prisons’ department to provide him with doctors and the medicines he needs, but no response was made.”
She also added that Wadi El-Natrun prison lacks the minimal health care requirements for any prisoner, in terms of poor ventilation, lack of exercise, water and medicine.
Former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh said on his Twitter account that renowned medical professor Al-Ghandour could not endure the “negligence” inside prison towards his critical health condition, which led to his death. “Enough with Egyptians’ bloodshed,” he added.
A total of 52 individuals have died inside detention centres across Cairo and Giza since January 2014, according to the official Forensic Medicine Authority. A further 80 individuals have died whilst in detention across Egyptian cities between July 2013 and January 2014, according to WikiThawra, an independent observatory that documents fatalities in prisons.
