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| Africa North | |
| Amnesia Intl: Jailed Brotherhood leader in poor health | |
| 2007-09-01 | |
| A jailed Egyptian Islamist who is third in command of the Muslim Brotherhood suffers from "serious health conditions" and urgently needs medical treatment, the human rights group Amnesty International Khairat el-Shatir is standing trial in a military court along with 39 other members of the Brotherhood -- Egypt's strongest opposition force -- on charges including terrorism and money laundering. Amnesty said Shatir was reported to be suffering from a serious leg infection complicated by diabetes, and that the infection was "caused or exacerbated by overcrowding and poor prison conditions". "Amnesty International is urging the Egyptian authorities to ensure that he receives the medical care he urgently needs," the London-based group said in a statement that also criticised what it described as a continuing crackdown on the Brotherhood. An Interior Ministry spokesman had no comment on the Amnesty statement.
Many analysts see the Brotherhood trial as an escalation of a government crackdown on the non-violent Islamist group, which won a fifth of the seats in parliament in 2005. They say authorities want to stop the Brotherhood from making more electoral gains that could help it mount a serious challenge to the government of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's longest-serving leader since Albanian-born Mohamed Ali Pasha in the 19th century. Local and international rights groups, including Amnesty, have criticised the military proceedings as unfair, and Egypt has barred independent observers from attending the trial. | |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #7 "Refused Treatment"? Fine, die in great pain Equally likely if he's treated in that prison. Mubarak doesn't take kindly to the Brotherhood, for understandable reasons. And the money laundering charges might make it difficult for el-Shatir to offer sufficient bribes for good care -- assuming those particular prison guards are bribable. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-01 20:25 |
| #6 Shatir was reported to be suffering from a serious leg infection complicated by diabetes Ooooh, sounds painful. Any way we can introduce some flesh-eating bacteria? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-01 18:19 |
| #5 "Refused Treatment"? Fine, die in great pain.(Good riddance, your "Get out of Jail scheme didn't work) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-09-01 14:13 |
| #4 he had refused treatment at a prison hospital, fearing poor care. She said prison officials refused to allow him to leave jail for treatment at a government hospital in Cairo. F*ck him. AI and his spokeshole daughter deserve a smacking just for spouting this nonsense |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-01 08:31 |
| #3 I concur. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-09-01 03:04 |
| #2 I recommend a lot of camel urine. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-09-01 02:38 |
| #1 Bleed him, maybe do the leeches. It was good enough for Mo. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-01 00:21 |