Concerns over Covid-19 spread at notorious Egyptian prison

CAIRO: An international human rights group has warned on Sunday about the possible spread of Covid-19 among inmates at Egypt's maximum-security Scorpion (Al-Aqrab) prison, three days after the mysterious death of a former senior Muslim Brotherhood leader in his cell.

"The researchers of We Record monitored over the past 10 days the presence of several suspected cases of coronavirus inside Al-Aqrab 1 prison…[at the time when] the prison administration refrains from offering the required medical attention for the prisoners," We Record said in a statement.

Last week, senior Muslim Brotherhood leader and former MP Hamdy Hassan died at the notorious prison with his cause of death not being declared.

But according to a Facebook post by the Egyptian El-Shehab human rights organisation, Hassan was allegedly subjected to "deliberate medical negligence".

The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist group in Egypt since 2013.

A group representing the families of Scorpion prisoners released a statement where they claimed that Hassan was not the first victim of Al-Aqrab where inmates had been allegedly subject to solitary confinement and deprived of medical care, healthy meals, and family visits deprived for years.