2 Political Prisoners Die in Egypt During COP27

Two political prisoners in Egypt died within 24 hours, as Egypt played host to the COP27 UN climate change summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. Egypt has been accused of hiding behind the conference to cover up its poor human rights record.

Magdy Abdo Al-Shabrawi,58, a bookstore owner, died at the new Badr Prison, his family was informed on Monday. He had been held in the notorious Scorpion Prison until earlier this year and was suffering from kidney failure, which went untreated.

Jailed teacher Shabaan Mohammed Sayed  died on Monday  in the hospital after being transferred from Qanater prison in Egypt’s Qalyubia governorate. He had high blood pressure and his health deteriorated rapidly in custody, according to local media.

Amid the two prisoners’ deaths, Egyptian pro-democracy advocate Alaa Abdel Fattah told his family in a letter that he broke his seven-month-long hunger strike. He promised to explain his reasons to his mother when she is scheduled to visit him on Thursday, though such visits have been canceled by Egyptian authorities in the past.

Thirty-two political prisoners to have died in Egyptian detention in 2022. At least 60,000 political prisoners are estimated to have been jailed since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took power following the overthrow in 2013 of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president.