Activists warn that there is a growing trend of the Egyptian government targeting family members and relatives of dissidents in a bid to silence them.
The brother of a prominent Egyptian journalist died after suffering a heart attack in his cell amid harsh conditions, sparking concerns over medical negligence.
The detainee, Mohammed Alaa el-Din Abdel-Azim, brother of Mohammed Nasser, died aged 64 around an hour and a half after suffering a heart attack.
Prison authorities reportedly did not intervene to save him, despite calls for help.
Abdel-Azim was detained in February 2018 on charges including mocking state institutions and insulting a police officer. The prosecution initially ordered his detention for 15 days pending investigation; however, he has remained behind bars since.
Some reports state his arrest was also linked to his brother, who is an exiled critic of President Abdelfattah al-Sisi.
According to Jawar, a platform that monitors and documents detainees’ cases in Egypt, several detainees banged on cell doors to get attention from prison guards when Abdel-Azim was suffering from a heart attack.
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The report further added that Abdel-Aziz had been suffering from a severe heart condition but had been kept behind bars since 2018 despite his health problems.
Abdel-Azim was transferred to the Wadi el Gedid prison last year, located in the western desert, a move that reportedly worsened his physical and mental health, with repeated court hearings and dislocation taking a toll on him.
Targeting of dissidents’ families
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression said the case was part of a broader trend of targeting family members of dissidents, with Nasser considering his brother’s arrest an attempt to pressure him into stopping his criticism of the government.
Egyptian political activist Osama Rushdi told local media that Abdel-Azim’s death was part of a series of retaliatory acts he said the Egyptian government was carrying out against dissidents living abroad, by targeting their family members and relatives.
“Targeting the relatives of Egyptian dissidents abroad has become one of the methods of punishment and revenge used by authorities to pressure those who express their opinions, after failing to silence them or reach them in countries where they reside,” he said.
He said Abdel-Azim’s death following years of detention “reveals the extent to which this revenge can extend, to the point that individuals with no connection to political activity pay the price for the stances of a family member,” he continued.
Rushdi noted that Abdel-Azim’s death should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but as part of a broader pattern of a crackdown on dissidents and their families, giving the example of Mona el-Shazly, a UK-based dissident, who has had five family members detained due to her activism.
“This is beyond traditional political arrest; this is cross-border repression, where the targeting is not limited to the individual dissident, but extends to their family to force them into silence and to curtail their activism,” Rushdi said.
Activists have raised the alarm over the death, accusing authorities of failing to intervene and save Abdel-Azim despite repeated pleas for help.
The death has also garnered attention due to Nasser’s role presenting the popular Egypt Today programme, on the opposition Mekameleen channel, which is based in Turkey. As one of the most prominent media Egyptian voices critical of the regime, authorities have accused him of incitement, spreading false news and sentenced him in absentia.
In December 2015, an Egyptian court sentenced Nasser to life imprisonment in a case where authorities accused him of leading a terrorist group. On another occasion, Egypt’s State Information Service accused Nasser of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The death has also shed light on the plight of elderly and sick detainees held in Egyptian prisons.
To date, no official information has been published regarding Abdel-Azim’s medical conditions, or prison authorities’ efforts to assist him.
Activists have called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as his medical record and reasons for his continued detention for so many years.
