A member of the Muslim Brotherhood died Monday in jail due to “medical malpractice,” said the group’s dissolved political arm, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP.)
Mohamed el-Falahgy, a former lawmaker of Damietta, suffered from hepatic coma and “was left to die without help” inside Gamasa prison in the governorate, 191 kilo meter away from Cairo, the FJP said in a statement.
However, Assistant to the Minister of Interior Hassan al-Sohagy told Youm7 that el-Falahgy “died in a hospital in Damietta, not in prison,” adding “the defendant was sent to Damietta public hospital 15 days ago due to liver failure.”
The 58-year-old was detained Aug. 26, 2013, following the 2013 dispersal of the Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in, after President Mohamed Morsi was ousted.
According to the statement, Falahgy was arrested from the Educational Directorate of Damietta where he was working a general director. He then referred to Gamasa prison in October 2013 over charges of inciting murder, belonging to a “terrorist” group, and attacking police stations.
All the said charges were dropped on Feb. 10, 2015, the statement said. However, he was charged with torching the local Islamic Academy in in July 2013, and was sentenced to three years in prison in September 2014. His retrial is set to begin on Tuesday.
Kamel Mandour, the Brotherhood lawyer, told Youm7 Monday the defense team will submit a request to get a medical report on Falahgy.
The Brotherhood claimed 257 people died in detention since that number of detainees belong to it since Morsi’s ouster.
On May 13, Brotherhood leading figure Farid Ismail, who was imprisoned for violence-related crimes, allegedly died due to “sustaining a stroke after the Scorpion Prison administration denied him necessary medical tests and treatment for days;” however, officials said he died in Manial hospital of Giza.
In August 2013, 37 people who allegedly belong to the Brotherhood, suffocated to death when two police officers threw tear gas bombs inside a police truck with 45 prisoners inside while transferring them to Abu Zaabal Prison.
Lawyer Imam Afify, 63, died in April after a brain hemorrhage that put him in a coma after being “beaten” while being transferred to the Matariya police station.
