CAIRO -
After more than two months of disappearance, the family of the Egyptian economic researcher, Ayman Hadhoud, announced his sudden and mysterious death, which angered and questioned activists and pioneers of social networking sites.
Today, Sunday, the Nasr City Prosecution (east of Cairo) issued a decision to autopsy Ayman Hadhoud's body, to find out the cause of death, after he disappeared for more than two months in an unknown location.
Lawyer Omar Hadhoud said that his brother Ayman had been forcibly disappeared since the evening of the third of last February, after having dinner with him in the Zamalek neighborhood in the heart of the capital Cairo, explaining that his brother was detained days after his abduction in a special section of the Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital, on the grounds of his condition He suffered from psychological distress after being detained in a police station and subjected to torture, as he described it.
It is worth mentioning that Ayman Hadhoud is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, a member of the Supreme Authority of the Reform and Development Party (represented in the current Egyptian parliament), and was an economic advisor to the party's leader, Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, a member of the National Council for Human Rights.
The interesting thing is that Sadat is one of the most prominent activists currently mediating with the security services to resolve the detainees’ file, and he has already succeeded in releasing some of them during the past months, and he has also heralded several times that a breakthrough in the human rights file is imminent, especially the crisis of detainees on a political background.
search attempts
For its part, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights said that one of the policemen came to the family’s home days after Ayman’s disappearance and informed them of the security forces’ reservations about him, but without details, so the family learned later that he had been detained at the Amiriya police station for several days, then he was detained in a building The National Security Agency in the same area questioned and interrogated him, then the family confirmed from its sources that he was in the mental hospital in Abbasiya.
A statement to the network said that when Hodhoud's brother went to the hospital to visit him, the hospital denied his presence at first, then they admitted the matter after great urgency, and he was informed that he was being held under police orders under observation for 45 days, and he would not be allowed to visit him without the permission of the Public Prosecution.
His family went to the Attorney General's office to obtain a visitation permit, and the request was rejected, and it was not possible to obtain a visitor permit for him, because Ayman Hadhoud is not imprisoned pending any case.
The family again submitted reports to the Public Prosecutor, the Ministry of Interior and the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, informing them of the disappearance of their son and demanding that his fate be revealed, but to no avail.
Anger and questions
A number of activists circulated a post on the "Egyptian Position" page on Facebook - a page concerned with public affairs and political analysis - where it provided detailed information about Hodhoud, and what happened with him from the moment of his disappearance, until the announcement of his mysterious death, asking the authorities to reveal the place of his disappearance and the circumstances of his death.
According to the page, Hadhoud's family knew that he was being held by a security agency in the Amiriya district of Cairo through "unofficial contacts", and that his family did not write about the details of his detention out of concern for his life, and after assurances that the matter would end safely soon, but they were surprised by his death.
The page asked, "What is the red line of the current regime? And how is it no longer even allowed to talk about economics in a logical and objective way?", especially since the late was a specialist in economics and a graduate of a major university and worked in the field of development and combating corruption in small and medium-sized companies, and was an advisor to the parliamentary body of the Islah Party and development.
The publication linked the Ayman Hadhoud incident to the disappearance and murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Egypt years ago, which caused tension in relations between Rome and Cairo, as Italy accuses the Egyptian security of torturing and killing Regeni, while the Egyptian authorities deny this.
The publication considered that what happened could have caused the change of systems and governments and the prosecution of many people, but if there was a minimum law, calling for attention to the issue of arrest and enforced disappearance, because no one is far from being exposed to the same crisis, according to the description of the publication.
Sad social media
A number of activists and pioneers of networking sites expressed their sadness at the death of Hodhoud in this mysterious and sudden way, and a number of them praised the late researcher.
Tweeters said that Hodhoud's departure in this way confirms the injustice suffered by the Egyptians in the era of the current regime, which has left the security services to oppress citizens without account, and use the weapon of enforced disappearance against political opponents of power in violation of all international laws and norms, according to the description of some of them.
The activists demanded the disclosure of details of what happened with the late researcher, from his arrest until his death, including his places of detention, the fact that he was tortured, the reason for his transfer to a mental hospital and the circumstances of his death there.
An official comment was delayed until this evening, Sunday, as government media quoted a security source - whose identity was not revealed - denying the validity of what was circulated by some pages of the terrorist Brotherhood (according to the source's description) regarding the alleged enforced disappearance of Ayman Hodhoud.
The source provided another account stating that on February 6, 2022, a property guard in the Zamalek area in Cairo informed the police about the presence of hoodoos inside the property and his attempt to break the door of one of the apartments and his irresponsible behavior, which prompted the police to take legal measures at the time, and deposited him In a psychiatric hospital, based on the decision of the Public Prosecution.
Ayman Hadhoud, economic researcher, American University graduate, member of the supreme body of a party represented in Parliament, was kidnapped by security in February. His body - a short Egyptian story pic.twitter.com/dUC7Ne39d9
— Jamal Sultan (@GamalSultan1) April 10, 2022
Ayman Hadhoud, an Egyptian economic expert and member of the Supreme Committee of the Reform and Development Party represented in the current parliament, was arrested by the National Security in early February and remained disappeared and then was placed in a mental hospital before his death was announced today.
A crime that cannot be tolerated by a normal state or society that has human dignity.
— Mahmoud Hadhoud (@MahmoudHadhou19) April 10, 2022
The Egyptian authorities have continued to enforce the enforced disappearance of the economist, Ayman Hadhoud, since February 5.
Enforced disappearance has become a weapon in the hands of the Egyptian authorities, which the Egyptian authorities defame against their political opponents, in clear and explicit violation of all international norms and laws, as it has become fashionable to monitor cases of enforced disappearance of politicians.
pic.twitter.com/93dQbMck6c
— Mohamed Gamil (@MGamil_AOHR) April 9, 2022
The family of economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud announced the news of his death, after a period of enforced disappearance for more than two months.
– The news is very sad, my sincere condolences to Ayman’s family, friends and lovers, and may God have mercy on him and forgive him and dwell in his vast gardens.
The oppression of the Egyptians.
#The _ people _ Mr _ F _ homeland _ Mr.
— Tamer Megahed 🇩🇪 🇺🇦 (@TemoDubai) April 10, 2022
The death of the economic researcher and member of the Reform and Development Party #Ayman_Hudhood inside the mental hospital in Abbasiya, he was forcibly hidden, then placed in a mental hospital, and then died suddenly in mysterious circumstances.
pic.twitter.com/r5xaJAxh6T
— Héctor Buenísimo 🇩🇪 (@Germanheco44) April 10, 2022
Good morning, Egypt, there
is a very clever economic researcher, a graduate of the American University, whose name is Ayman Hadhoud. He has been missing for months, after the security services arrested him and his family were deceiving him. You were sure yesterday that he died and in the mental hospital in Abbasiya, imagine?
May God take revenge on every unjust. https://t.co/VkIa5S5d2i pic.twitter.com/4QIwbH4KM3
— Anas Hassan (@Anass_2311) April 10, 2022