CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – The former acting leader of Egypt’s opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood criticized his detention conditions in a rare court appearance shared widely in an online video.
Mahmoud Ezzat, the 77-year-old former Brotherhood leader, who is also a professor of epidemiology, was arrested in August last year after seven years of speculation about his whereabouts.
Last week, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of “espionage”. This is on top of having already been sentenced to life in prison in April.
The Brotherhood, which has been Egypt’s largest opposition movement for decades, has been outlawed by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since 2014 after he led a coup against his predecessor Mohamed Morsi, who hailed from the group.
The group has denounced the court cases against Ezzat as “politically motivated”.
In his latest court appearance shared in a leaked video, Ezzat complained to the judge about the circumstances of his detention, as he is held in a solitary confinement cell at the notorious Aqrab Prison.
He said that throughout the 16 months of his detention, “the cell is only opened for seconds every day to deliver my food” and that “some food is thrown to me from the door vent, without bothering to even open the cell’s door to hand the food to me.”
He added that he is not allowed to move outside his cell, or to “smell fresh air except within the walls of the cell.”
“I have been blindfolded all the way from the prison to this court room today,” he told the judge.
Ezzat added that prior to the trial, he hadn’t been able to read the indictment sheet or listen to the prosecution hearing, and that he hasn’t met his lawyers or know who they are.
The short clip has triggered widespread condemnations by Egyptian and Arab human rights advocates and journalists.
Several Brotherhood leaders have died in custody in recent years, including the late president Mohamed Morsi and former MP Essam El-Erian. Rights groups have said their deaths were most likely due to medical negligence and poor conditions in jails.
Sisi ousted his predecessor Morsi in July 2013. Since then, the former army general has led a crackdown on Brotherhood leaders and supporters, as well as secular opposition groups who criticize his rule.
Human Rights Watch has estimated that over 60,000 political prisoners are languishing in jails since Sisi became president in 2014, while many others have been living in self-imposed exile fearing reprisals at home.