France probes death of Egyptian PhD researcher Reem Hamed amid conspiracy theories

The French authorities have opened an investigation into the death of an Egyptian PhD student at Paris Saclay University, Reem Hamed, that took place last week in the capital, Paris, amid conspiracy theories of possible foul play.

"The cause of death has not been officially declared yet. We have been waiting for the decision of the prosecutor-general as Egypt's consulate and embassy and the Egyptian community in France have been very concerned about the incident," Abdel-Hameed Al-Nakreesh, a representative of the community of Egyptians in France, told The New Arab.

No further details on the ongoing investigation were available at the time of publication.

But over the past 48 hours, screenshots of social media posts, reportedly made by Hamed, of her claiming she was being targeted at home and college which were removed shortly before her death on Thursday, 22 August, have gone viral.

"I, Reem Hamed, a PhD student in France, testify that I am in a dire need to inform the concerned security authorities in Egypt that I have been under surveillance and that my [electronic] devices have been infiltrated and above all I am being forced to remain silent and not to report [these violations]," she said in one of the posts in question.

In another post, Hamed claimed a neighbour had reportedly spread a mysterious gas under her doorstep that was likely to affect her nerves and kill or sedate her. In other posts, she said her food had been tampered with and that she was being followed.

Hamed said that the police did not take her seriously when she reported such incidents. Neither did the Egyptian embassy in Paris, she claimed.

TNA could not independently verify the authenticity of screenshots in question.

On Sunday, the Egyptian foreign ministry released a statement that it had been following up the inquiry with the French authorities and for the family to receive the body the soonest for a proper burial service back home.

Activists accused the Egyptian government of falling short in protecting Egyptians abroad.

Hamed's death brought to surface memories of incidents of Egyptian scientists reportedly killed to halt their scientific pursuits, such as the legendary Samira Mousa, Egypt's first-ever female scientist and Ali Moustafa Mosharafa both dating back to the 1950s.

Echoes of Samira Moussa:
Mysterious Death of Egyptian PhD Student in France Raises Alarming Questions

The sudden death of Dr. Reem Hamed, an Egyptian PhD student in biotechnology in France, has caused widespread shock and stirred a wave of disturbing and mysterious… pic.twitter.com/f2p7OtKfU2

— khaled mahmoued (@khaledmahmoued1) August 25, 2024

It remains unclear whether the field of research Hamed had been working on was linked to her 'alleged murder' as suggested by social media users. 

According to her LinkedIn profile, Hamed acquired a master degree in genomics and epigenetics in 2002 from the same university. She has been working on studying the regulation of gene expression in senescence.

Meanwhile, the deceased's brother, Nader Hamed, wrote a post on his Facebook page urging social media users to stop sharing posts attributed to his sister and consider him the only source of information. He had noted that his sister had died a few days after visiting her family in Cairo.

"The incident is being investigated by the French prosecution. No official report has yet been released about Reem's death that confirms or denies any criminal suspicions," Hamed posted, urging the public to be cautious about publishing any information that may obstruct justice or impact his sister's rights.