Human rights sources reported the death of two political detainees in Egypt within 24 hours as a result of medical negligence after they were suspected of being infected with the Coronavirus.

Yasser Salama Abu El-Ela, who was detained in the public prison in Tanta, in the Nile Delta, and Hamdi Abdel-Al Rayan, who was held in the prison of the security forces camp, in the city of Tenth of Ramadan, east of Cairo, died yesterday.

The sources stated that the Egyptian Ministry of Interior transferred a large number of political detainees from the quarantine of Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra General Hospital to Tanta Public Prison, despite their incomplete recovery from the Corona virus.

Egypt: # We documented the death of 60-year-old detainee “Hamdi Abdel-Aal Rayan,” at noon today, “June 21, 2020” at the Tenth of Ramadan Hospital.

He had been transferred from the Central Security Forces camp to the tenth of Ramadan, after a deliberate medical negligence that led to the deterioration of his health after showing symptoms of the # Corona virus. pic.twitter.com/kVlObdK9p5

- We Record - We record (@WeRecordAR) June 21, 2020

On the other hand, a statement attributed to the families of the detainees in Scorpion Prison, located in the Tora Prison District in Cairo, stated that the Coruna virus infected a large number of their relatives detained in the prison, and they demanded the Egyptian authorities to reveal the truth about the numbers of the injured and the measures taken to protect them.

The statement said that the number of people with symptoms of corona rose to more than 300 detainees inside the prison, without the prison administration or the Egyptian Prison Authority taking any measures in this regard.

The injured are not isolated or provided with appropriate medical care. Rather, the authorities are keeping silent on the reality of conditions inside the prison, according to the statement.

Detainees' concerns

The statement quoted the prisoners as warning them against worsening the situation in the light of preventing visits and recreation, as well as malnutrition, ventilation and the spread of insects.

The statement held the authorities responsible for any deaths among the prisoners, in light of its refusal to release the detainees who had obtained acquittals and being held in pretrial detention for years.

The families of the detainees urged the international community to intervene and put pressure on the Egyptian authorities, after the outbreak of the Corona epidemic in most prison wards, according to the statement.

Last April, the United Nations called on the Egyptian authorities to release "those convicted of crimes other than violence" and those in pretrial detention, to prevent them from contracting the virus.

Last March, Egyptian activists broadcast a leaked message from Scorpion Prison, revealing the spread of Corona's epidemic within the prison, which lacks the most basic necessities of life, and confirms that the prison administration ignored the prisoners' calls to speed up their treatment and release.

Jurists and observers say that the Egyptian regime not only ignores these calls, but also tightens its security grip, and launches arrest campaigns in several governorates.