Egyptian ‘tortured’ to death
An Egyptian who was arrested after his brother was detained for distributing leaflets criticising the US and Israel has died in jail from torture, says the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation.
Muhammad Abd al-Sattar, an engineer from the Fayum region, was detained by state security forces on 12 September, three days after his younger brother was locked up for handing out the leaflets.
Abd al-Sattar’s corpse was returned to his family on 14 September. The police gave no explanation for his death, the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation said in a statement.
His brother remains in detention even though he has yet to be charged.
Torture is a crime punishable in Egypt by a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Last week, twelve police officers were ordered to stand trial at a criminal court in the city of Alexandria for torture, intimidation, fraud and attempted rape.