A political prisoner named Ibrahim Salem Hashish, 58, died Friday in Al-Azhar hospital in Damietta, with his family accusing security and health officials of medical negligence by refusing to release him.
Hashish, according to his family, suffered from kidney cancer and was transferred to the hospital for treatment. He was detained in the Gamasa Central Prison, pending trial. He was accused along with 39 other defendants, of committing acts of violence in December 2013, where clashes between riot police and pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters erupted. One protester, named Ammar Ramal, was killed, and the 40 defendants were accused of killing him.
The court case was postponed several times, and was supposed to proceed in September.
He was arrested on 30 July 2015, and was transferred to different prisons until he was place in Gamasa.
His family told Daily News Egypt that they completed official paperwork to prove his dire health status in order for him to be released. However, the family added: “the prison department only transferred him to Al-Azhar hospital, where he died.” The family said that he died from a lack of medical assistance in the hospital.
Hashish was an Arabic teacher in the Ministry of Education. His funeral, which took place Friday night, was attended by dozens of family members and friends. His family said that young people wanted to chant against the government during the burial, but elder members prevented them. His village Al-Basarta is one that is frequently the target of raids by riot police, resulting in clashes and arrests.
In Damietta, in the Gamasa prison also, a similar incident took place where former member of parliament and Brotherhood figure Mohamed Al-Falahgy died in detention. He suffered a hepatic encephalopathy but did not receive appropriate medical treatment, according to the Freedom and Justice Party.
The Brotherhood claims that security forces are “eliminating” its members in prison, whether by torture or medical negligence, a claim that the Egyptian state and the Ministry of Interior refuse.
A report published by El Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, documenting police violations in July, said that four prisoners died as the result of medical negligence.
