Horrific: For months, #Egypt ignored paperwork that could have allowed Moustafa Kassem, to be released from prison and instead the 54yo US citizen from NYC died behind bars earlier this month, according to his lawyer and a Democratic senator. nbcnews.com/news/world/ame…
Kassem, who was arrested in 2013 and charged with terrorism-related offenses that both the U.S. govt & human rights groups said were baseless, died on Jan. 13. He was a diabetic who had been on a liquids-only hunger strike since his conviction in an Egyptian court in Sept 2018.
Egypt had told U.S. officials that Kassem would be eligible for release and deportation to the US if he renounced his Egyptian citizenship. Kasseem dropped his appeal of his conviction & submitted papers to relinquish his Egyptian citizenship more than 6mths ago, his lawyer said.
"I'm extremely troubled that the Egyptian government chose to sit on the paperwork to release Mustafa Kassem for months, essentially sealing his fate to die in their prisons," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in a statement.
Sisi has overseen "a brutal crackdown on political dissent," Murphy said. "But President Trump's complete disregard for human rights abroad clearly sent a signal to Sisi and others that they don't have to take American requests on these issues seriously."
Trump has avoided public criticism of Sisi and called him his "favorite dictator."
Remember: this horrific case is just one that we know of.
The Sisi regime murdered Moustafa Kassem via injustice and neglect.
There are thousands upon thousands also being slowly murdered in Sisi’s jails and we don’t know their names.
The Sisi regime murdered Moustafa Kassem via injustice and neglect.
There are thousands upon thousands also being slowly murdered in Sisi’s jails and we don’t know their names.
