The Egyptian Ministry of Interior is responsible for the life and well-being of Hassan Mubarak who was forcibly moved from an intensive care unit in Boulaq public hospital to the near-by Boulaq Police Station, said local human rights organisations in a joint statement Wednesday.
Security forces broke into Mubarak’s home and arrested the 63-year-old on 30 May, initially charging him with printing books without permission. However, after lawyers provided evidence that Mubarak had printing and copyright permission, the charges were changed to include belonging to the now banned 6 April Youth Movement.
Signatory groups included the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, El-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Violence Victims, Nazra Centre for Feminist Studies, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, among others.
According to the groups’ statement, Mubarak suffered “extreme fatigue” while in police custody as a result of over-crowdedness and excessive smoking in the jail cell. He was transferred to the hospital two times before being returned to prison.
Mubarak was moved again to the Boulaq hospital on 8 June after his condition worsened and also suffered severe fatigue in the ambulance on the way. In addition, Mubarak was scheduled to meet with an urologist at the hospital within a week, but his request to remain at the hospital was denied.
According to a January 2015 Human Rights Watch Statement, scores of people have died in custody in Egyptian jails throughout 2014. While many were killed after torture and physical abuse, “many appear to have died because they were held in severely overcrowded cells or did not receive adequate medical care for serious ailment”.
