CAIRO -

A state of sadness prevailed on social media after the death of Bahira El-Shawy, the wife of Egyptian businessman Safwan Thabet, founder and former CEO of Juhayna Dairy Products, who was arrested more than a year ago along with his son Seif El-Din.

And Maryam, the daughter of the Egyptian businessman, announced yesterday evening, Friday, the death of her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, about a week after a single visit from her husband and son allowed by the authorities after her health deteriorated, which prevented the late woman from feeling the visit, as she had fallen into a coma.

The founder of Juhayna and his son have been in prison since his arrest in December 2020, and his son Seif El-Din was arrested two months later.

According to official media, the authorities accuse the two of belonging to and financing a terrorist group, a phrase commonly used in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.

sadness and anger

El-Shawy's death caused a wave of sadness and anger to spread across social networking sites in Egypt, and the "Bahaira El-Shawy" hashtag witnessed the participation of a large number of Egyptian public figures in her eulogy.

A number of tweeters expressed their sadness at the departure of the "patient and persevering" wife without her eyes acknowledging seeing her husband and her son who were liberated, and some of them also expressed their anger at what they described as the injustice that occurred to the woman and her family without any guilt.

A number of social media pioneers demanded that her husband and son be released from prison to attend her funeral, and that the family should not be deprived of meeting for the last time.

To God what he took, and to God what he gave, and everything he has is as much as


remaining for God. My sincere condolences to the engineer Safwan Thabet and to my sisters, Saif Wahba and Maryam on the death of their virtuous and patient mother, Harira Al-Shawi. To God and to Him we shall return

— Hanan Turk (@HananTurk) March 18, 2022

#Bhaira_Al-Shawi, wife of #Safwan_Thabit, in the presence of "The Compassionate, the Merciful".

God made what she received in the balance of her good deeds.

And reward it, and reward you for what you have been patient.


🤲


_

- Ayman Al-Sayyad Ayman Al-Sayyad (@a_sayyad) March 19, 2022

Safwan and Saif at the funeral

The funeral prayer was held for Bahira Al-Shawi, in the presence of her husband, Safwan Thabet and his son, and then she was buried in the family cemetery.

Maryam Safwan Thabet said in a tweet on Twitter in the name of the family that her father and brother were able to attend the funeral prayer and the burial ceremony, adding that the security arrangements allowed them to receive condolences.

I was very saddened by the news of the death of the wife of Eng. Safwan Thabet, while her husband and son are in detention.

I ask God to bless her with his mercy and to inspire her God patience and solace, and I extend my sincere condolences to all family members, and to God and to Him we shall return.

— Hassan Nafaa (@hassanafaa) March 19, 2022

arrest and investigation

Since the arrest of her husband and son, Bahira El-Shahawi has made a number of statements explaining the scenes of their arrest, and demanded their release, which led to her arrest last year, before her release on bail of 5,000 pounds (about $320) after an investigation that lasted about 8 hours.

According to the Egyptian lawyer, Nasser Amin, El-Shawy was subjected to investigations before the Public Prosecution, which charged her with “publishing, broadcasting and broadcasting false news and statements, and sharing a terrorist group with knowledge and promoting its purposes,” after she broadcast a video clip on her Facebook account at the end of last September. The President of the Republic considers the case of her husband and son.

#Bhaira_Al-Shawi, may God have mercy on her.. She grieved for her as grievously as heaven could..She asked: Isn't God able to prevent from her and her family everything that befell them, and led to this tragic end?!!


Then I said: Yes, He, Glory be to Him, is able not to be crippled by a thorn, but it is the test of the expert, the test of the great, and the wisdom of those who are bewildered by the limits of the minds!!

pic.twitter.com/uxLuN5W4XN

— Muhammad salah (@muhamsalah) March 19, 2022

Juhayna struggle

Amnesty International said last September that the Egyptian authorities were holding the founder of one of the largest dairy and juice companies in the country and his son "in conditions amounting to torture because of their refusal to give up their property."

The organization stated - in a statement - that the authorities used such accusations on a large scale in a security campaign against opponents of various political trends, and are now using them to target businessmen.

She added that the authorities did not provide evidence of the accusation that Safwan Thabet and his son belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is prohibited by the authorities.

May she rest in Allah's mercy after the suffering she lived trying to free the 2 beloved men of her life, husband Egyptian businessman #Safwanthabet & her son #SeifSafwan #freeSafwan #juhayna #RIP #BaheeraShawy #Juhayna


We belong to God and to Him we shall return


@mariamthabet


# Freedom_for_Safwan_Sabet https://t.co/L6UGwuOB2x

— Gameela Ismail (@GameelaIsmail) March 18, 2022

Amnesty International said - based on sources familiar with the company and the situation of the Thabet family - that Egyptian security officials asked Safwan before his arrest and his son to hand over part of Juhayna Company to a government-owned entity, and Seif El-Din gave up the family's right to its shares.

"In addition to being denied the right to challenge the legality of their detention, Safwan and Saif Thabet are being tortured by prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's director of research and advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa.

Despite his belonging to a Brotherhood family - as his maternal grandfather was the former guide of the group Mamoun al-Hudaybi, and his grandfather is the second guide of the group Hassan al-Hudaybi - the interest of the famous businessman Safwan Thabet focused on the economy, he founded the Juhayna Company, which is one of the largest operating brands In the field of dairy and foodstuffs in Egypt and the Arab world, where statistics indicate that it monopolizes more than half of the dairy trade in Egypt.