A prisoner named Ramadan Gomaa, 31, died Sunday in the Torah prison complex hospital, as his family accuses the prison authorities of medical negligence and withholding treatment from him. He suffered from renal cancer.
Gomaa is one of the 68 defendants in the “Zawahri militant cell” case, in which he was accused of terrorism related charges. Before being imprisoned, Gomaa worked as a driver in Giza’s district of Imbaba.
Gomaa and others received life sentences on charges of committing acts of terrorism.
The judge ruling in the case, Mohamed Shirin Fahmy, ordered on 12 July that Gomaa should be transferred to the hospital and receive treatment.
His family said they were informed of his death by a low ranking police officer, but they haven’t been informed officially.
The interior minister’s assistant Hassan El–Sohagy denied having any information about the incident, referring Daily News Egypt to the media office of the ministry, which wasn’t available for comment.
Gomaa’s family said he was arrested in November 2013 on accusations of burning a church in the district of Warraq. It added that his health deteriorated and he suffered problems in the kidney and spleen.
The family explained that they presented several complaints to the general prosecution, and through requests by the defence team who presented the defendants in the mass trial.
Thousands of civilians have been imprisoned or held in pre-trial detention since 2013. The Egyptian state has decided to build more prisons in different cities to accommodate the overcrowding.