Pompeo demands Cairo to guarantee the safety of American detainees from the Coronavirus

In a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, the US State Department said in a statement that the necessity of ensuring the safety of American detainees in Egyptian prisons from the new epidemic of Corona (Covid-19).

The statement added that the two ministers discussed major regional issues and bilateral cooperation on the Coruna virus.

The ministry did not give any details about the prisoners, but three Americans held in Egypt were mentioned in a letter sent by members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the Senate to Pompeo, and they demanded that he call for the release of citizens imprisoned in several countries for fear of contracting the virus.

Covid-19, a respiratory disease caused by the most recent strain of coronavirus, has killed more than 175,000 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

In Egypt, the virus has killed 276 people among more than 3,600 infected, according to WHO data.

Among the prisoners mentioned in the speech of senators, Egyptian-American medicine student Mohamed Amasha, who has been awaiting trial for more than a year, was charged with alleged accusations of misusing social media and aiding a "terrorist organization".

Concern and demand
On his part, US Senator Chris Murphy expressed his concern about the continued detention of citizens in Egypt, including Amasha, who began a hunger strike yesterday in his prison.

Murphy cautioned against the repetition of the tragedy of his Egyptian citizen Mustafa Qasim, who died in Egypt's prisons earlier this year.

He said in a statement that there are six American political prisoners held in Egyptian prisons that have a poor record in the field of human rights, and they face the threat of death under the gaze of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The senator confirmed that he would continue to press for a tougher stance on US military aid to Cairo.

Murphy is a member of the Democratic Party, and has led a move with Republican Senator Marco Rubio to ask the Foreign Minister to press foreign governments to immediately release political prisoners held abroad to protect them from the emerging Corona virus.

It is worth noting that about 114,000 people are in Egypt's prisons, according to a recent estimate by the United Nations.