Detained journalist Abdullah Elshamy is in solitary confinement at Al Aqrab (Scorpion) maximum-security prison. I would now like to share with you the details of the weeklong nightmare, which continue to develop by the second, we have been living through. I made a point of not writing before until I had sufficient and confirmed information. - On May 05, following the publication of photos clearly showing the deterioration of Abdullah’s heath after more than 100 days on hunger strike, an official from the Prison Authorities met with him (Abdullah) and tried to pressure him to end his hunger strike. Part of the attempt was sugar-coated, along the lines of: ‘Egypt needs you’ etc. The other part was a blatant threat to transfer him (Abdullah) to solitary confinement if he doesn’t end his hunger trike. This is the letter Abdullah wrote detailing what happened: https://facebook/permalink.php?story_fbid=277015825813949&id=265778260271039 - Due to the prison’s refusal to provide medical care for Abdullah, we managed to obtain a blood sample, which was sent to an independent private laboratory for analysis in order to assess the status of his health in a practical and objective environment. The results showed severe anemia, extremely low blood sugar and symptoms of kidney failure. Here is the doctor’s report in full for those who want to look through it: i58.tinypic/1196yhw.png - On Monday morning, May 12th, security entered the prison cell where Abdullah was being held at Tora prison and started rummaging through the belongings of all the prisoners in the cell. They eventually found a mobile telephone the prisoners were using to communicate with their families on the outside. Security claimed the telephone belonged to Abdullah and informed him that he would be transferred to Al Aqrab (Scorpion) prison (maximum-security, solitary confinement). This was the information to reach me, it was the moment this nightmare began. - Meanwhile, Abdullah’s cellmates were refusing to allow his removal from their midst to a place like Al Aqrab, given the condition of his health. Tensions ran high in the ward in anticipation of riot police forces being sent in to forcibly remove Abdullah from his cell. Abdullah’s cellmates only let him go after the prison warden promised he (Abdullah) was being taken to the prison hospital not to Al Aqrab and that one of his cellmates could accompany him. Of course none of that happened. - After a long day of rumors and terror, Gehad, Abdullah’s wife (who is also on a hunger strike in solidarity with her husband) lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital. After being put on an IV drip and being given oxygen, her condition stabilized and she regained consciousness. She immediately started asking if we had managed to locate Abdullah. At the same time, my mother arrived back in Egypt and this was the first thing she heard. - The next day, Abdullah’s attorney went to the Prosecutor General’s Office then the Prison Authorities Department and submitted an official request to disclose Abdullah’s whereabouts. An official said he (Abdullah) was nowhere to be found in the department. When Abdullah’s attorney requested an official written letter to that effect, he was refused. - Yesterday, May 14, my mother and Abdullah’s wife went to Tora prison and were finally able to locate Abdullah in Al Aqrab prison and make sure that he was fine. They found out that he was transferred to Al Aqrab because of his hunger strike “which has become a headache” and that the telephone found in the cell was a maneuver designed to create an excuse to move him. This is what he (Abdullah) was told verbatim. Abdullah has been in his (solitary confinement) cell since his transfer, the doors have not been opened once since then. - Until this moment, the Interior Ministry continues to deny that Abdullah is on a hunger strike. They insist he is only refusing prison food but is eating food brought to him by visitors and is buying supplies from the prison cafeteria. The Interior Ministry are contradicting their own lies by transferring Abdullah to Al Aqrab and by pressuring him to end his strike. Our response to their lies can be found in the published photos of Abdullah showing his deterioration and in results of his medical tests: www1.youm7/News.asp?NewsID=1665468#.U3OQ0oGSzXs - Finally, here is a video Abdullah recorded inside his cell, only a few days before his transfer, where he speaks for himself about his condition, his imprisonment and predicts what has happened to him since recording the video: youtube/watch?v=1NEjzwbPUDI Abdullah has been imprisoned without charge or referral to trial for 9 months now. He has been on hunger strike for 115 days. His health has deteriorated to an alarming and critical stage. The prison’s response has been to not just ignore that fact, but to punish him for it. *Update, May 15* - Abdullah informed journalists during his appeal session that the prison authorities attempted to force feed yesterday. This is precisely the reason they moved him to isolation. Thank you Dina Daboura for the translation.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 12:48:21 +0000
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