Egyptian-American political activist Mohamed Sultan filed a lawsuit in a court in Washington against current and former senior officials alleging that he was tortured during his detention in Egypt for nearly two years, due to his anti-military activity after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The Washington Post newspaper said that the lawsuit, filed by Sultan, 32, on Monday in a court in the District of Columbia in the American capital - targeted Hazim al-Beblawy as the first suspect as someone who had mistreated him when he was Prime Minister, but also included the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the director of His previous bureau, Abbas Kamel, who currently heads the General Intelligence Service, and three former leaders of the Ministry of Interior, are demanding in the lawsuit that Sultan pursue them if they enter the United States.
The newspaper added that the 46-page lawsuit - filed by the son of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Salah Sultan - was based on a law issued in 1991 in the United States that allowed survivors of torture to sue their torturers for compensation for the damage they had suffered.
She added that the prominent activist, graduate of the University of Ohio - who was injured in the demonstrations that followed the Sisi coup in Morsi in 2013 - confirmed in his lawsuit that he was beaten and tortured during his 643 days detention in Egypt, and quoted him as saying that he was subjected to an "assassination" attempt and brutal treatment during his 21-month detention. Because he dared to expose the Egyptian authorities' violations against Islamist and liberal opponents.
According to The Washington Post, foreign leaders are mostly immune from civil lawsuits in the United States, but noted that the Torture Victims Protection Act allows for claims against people involved in torture operations anywhere in the world to be present if they are in the United States and are no longer in power in their countries.