Egyptian activist on hunger strike moved to new prison

CAIRO — Egyptian authorities have transferred a prominent political activist from a maximum-security prison where he was allegedly tortured and denied basic rights to a new correctional facility, his family says.

Alaa Abd El Fattah was transferred from Cairo’s Tora prison complex to Wadi El-Natrun prison in the north of the country, where he was visited today by his family, his sister Mona Seif writes on Twitter.

The transfer comes as Abd El Fattah had been on a hunger strike for nearly 48 days to protest his imprisonment conditions, according to his family. Abdel-Fattah had been serving time in one of Tora complex’s most notorious prisons since his last arrest in September 2019.

“We’re really glad that Alaa Abd El Fattah has been removed from the ‘guardianship’ of officers who bore him a personal hatred. We’re relieved that he is in a place which has some medical facilities,” his aunt, award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif writes on her Facebook page.

Abd El Fattah has been constantly denied access to books, exercise time outside his cell, regular visits, and proper medical care, according to his family. He had previously filed several complaints documenting his mistreatment and alleging that he was beaten and humiliated by some prison officers.