The families of 15 Egyptian workers allegedly kidnapped in Libya staged a protest on Saturday morning near the Press Syndicate in objection to what they call “officials’ negligence” regarding the case of their relatives in Libya.
Hamada Salah, the brother of Mohamed Salah who is among the allegedly kidnapped Egyptian workers in Libya, told Daily News Egypt on Saturday that the protest has been organised due to the absence of a response from the Foreign Ministry and officials on the case.
He further asserted that security forces banned the families from organising the protest in front of the Press Syndicate due to the absence of a legal permission to protest that pushed the families to demonstrate in an area near to the syndicate.
On Wednesday, Hamada stated that kidnappers informed him that his brother was killed due to the media campaigns launched by his family.
Consequently, Tarek El-Khouly, member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, submitted an inquest to parliamentary speaker Ali Abdul Aal regarding the Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya, in order to refer it to the Foreign Ministry to follow up on the case.
The incident dates back to 10 January, when numerous photos circulated through several social media outlets in Egypt, showing a number of young Egyptians being bound in chains with apparent torture marks on their backs.
Hamada had told Daily News Egypt back then that Mohamed had been kidnapped by anonymous militants after illegally travelling to Libya in December 2016. He said that a smuggler had agreed to smuggle his brother into Libya so that he could find employment in agriculture. He explained that his brother is a farmer.
The alleged kidnapper asked Hamada to pay a ransom of EGP 70,000. “He urged me to collect the money and pay it as soon as possible because he and other Egyptians were subject to unbearable torture by their captors.”
Daily News Egypt made several attempts to reach the Foreign Ministry spokesperson for a comment on the incident, but no answers were received.
