The hashtag "leaks of Egypt's prisons" topped social media platforms in Egypt, against the backdrop of the circulation of leaked videos, whose publishers said were of a surveillance camera that "documents the inhumane conditions of political inmates," but the Interior Ministry denied their authenticity.

Opposition activist Ali Hussein al-Mahdi posted clips called "The First Leak" on his YouTube channel, which has more than 170,<> followers.

The activist – who resides outside Egypt – said that the clips "document the conditions of the movements of leaders of the Brotherhood inside the individual cells in the Badr prison complex," headed by leader Mahmoud Ezzat, who was acting general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, and detained preacher Salah Sultan, and another person, as he put it.

The leaks also showed photos of detained cells that activists said showed what they called their suffering in solitary confinement.

#وزارة_الداخلية The videos taken up by one of the fugitive elements abroad claiming that they are inmates inside a reform and rehabilitation center are distorted and have nothing to do with the people who claim to be their own, and that this comes within the framework of the terrorist Brotherhood's plans to try to create confusion after it lost its credibility in the circles of... pic.twitter.com/9w34TyfYC1

— Ministry of Interior (@moiegy) September 12, 2023

Egypt's Interior Ministry denied the authenticity of the videos, describing their publisher as "one of the fugitive elements." The ministry stressed that the videos are "distorted and have nothing to do with the people who the publisher of the leaks says are Brotherhood leaders."

Despite the skepticism of some observers about the footage, human rights activists have documented a convergence of the shape of the individual cells shown in the published videos, with photos previously published by the Interior Ministry in films and promotional footage of what it calls "correction and rehabilitation centers," instead of the customary term "prisons."

A friend abroad sent me a video containing what he called #تسريبات_سجون_مصر, and asked me to verify the authenticity of the videos contained in it and whether they are from the #بدر prison complex or not.

Verify: Yes, the videos are from inside the detention cells in the new prisons because the leaked videos match the videos officially published by the state.

(1/5) pic.twitter.com/HF4lahde4p

— Haitham Ghoneim (@HaithamGhoniem) September 12, 2023

Human rights activist Haitham Ghoneim also confirmed that "the visuals from inside the detention cells in the new prisons," based on their conformity with those officially published by the state.

Haitham called – in a post on the "X" platform – "the Public Prosecution to verify all cases of medical negligence inside prisons by reviewing the recorded clips, instead of being satisfied with comic statements from the Ministry of Interior," as he put it.

The leaks of surveillance cameras broadcast by YouTuber Ali Hussein Mahdi to three Muslim Brotherhood leaders in their solitary cells, from Badr Maximum Security Prison, are heartbreaking!
The leaks concern Dr.
Mahmoud Ezzat, Deputy General Guide, university professor who is over eighty, trying to seek warmth...

— Ahmed Abdel Aziz (@AAAzizMisr) September 11, 2023

Opposition figure Ahmed Abdel Aziz, a member of the presidential team of the late President Mohamed Morsi, wrote, "The leaks of surveillance cameras broadcast by YouTuber Ali Hussein Mahdi to three Muslim Brotherhood leaders in their solitary cells, from Badr Maximum Security Prison, are heartbreaking."

He added, "These leaks showed the inhuman lifestyle of these scientific and national figures, which are enough scenes to establish the world and not sit down, until all political detainees are released in the prisons of the coup! The Muslim Brotherhood leadership must act. All international human rights organizations must act. Every free person should do what he can to raise this humanitarian issue (in the first place) and put everyone before their responsibilities."

Doaa, the daughter of parliamentarian and lawyer Sobhi Saleh, who has been held incommunicado since 2013, described the videos circulating as "painful". "These clips make us see what we run away from thinking about, as they remind us of what is happening with our families in prisons, which prevents us from living in peace," she said in a post.

Activist Abdul Rahman Tariq believes that the leak of the clips from Badr prison is proof that "the ruling authority has no intention of improving the human rights situation."

Dr. #محمود_عزت, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine and one of the senior sheikhs of education, mentioned before the court part of what he is exposed to in solitary confinement, an octogenarian sheikh, and the #تسريبات_سجون_مصر came to convey the image of suffering from inside the concrete walls, and the lack of all the necessities of life in the cell! pic.twitter.com/QKdKJ0YYfB

— Dr. Mohammed Al-Saghir (@drassagheer) September 12, 2023

While academic Wasfi Abu Zeid wrote, "Regardless of the reason for publishing the clips that move the mountain and incite the unscrupulous now, but this leak obliges everyone who has any reason, and any ability to save them, to do what he can."

"Anyone who entered prison in Egypt or visited a relative in Egypt knows that this is just the tip of the iceberg of the situation of detainees, and that the leaks are only flashes revealing the condition of death row and slow killing cells," commented preacher Mohammed al-Saghir.