CAIRO – 15 January 2020: U.S. news outlets have been spreading erroneous information and baseless reports regarding Moustafa Kassem, an Egyptian American citizen who died after going on an unadvised hunger strike, falsely claiming the Egyptian state is responsible for his death.
Kassem was imprisoned on charges of disturbing public peace, terrorizing, intimidation, and spreading horror among citizens.
In this regard, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior stressed in a statement that Kassem received the necessary health care and was not – by any means – denied of his legal rights, including visitations.
The statement included the following facts about Kassem, his trial, and imprisonment:
1 - The incident has been judicially investigated with the acknowledgment of the Public Prosecution, a neutral and independent judicial body.
2 - The investigations are based on criminal incidents committed by the defendant; the incidents constitute "crimes" in the Egyptian Penal Code.
3 - During his questioning, the defendant was shown his indictment, as well as the evidence. He was enabled to testify and defend himself.
4 - The Public Prosecution may not question the defendant or cross-examine him by bringing other witnesses or defendants unless in the presence of his lawyer, according to the criminal procedures of criminal cases and misdemeanors punishable by prison. The only exception is when a defendant is caught red-handed or in a case of haste in fear of losing evidence, as must be proven in the investigation report. The Public Prosecution also must appoint a lawyer for the defendant if he does not have one.
5 - The defendant was examined to ensure his body has no traumas, and for the Public Prosecution to record any observations.
6 - The defendant's vital signs were stable and his consciousness was full in a medical examination, according to a report dated 7/4/2019 by the Ministry of Interior's Prison Sector.
7 - The procedures of the pretrial detention were in line with the conditions set by the criminal code in terms of the period of remand, the reasons for it and the Public Prosecution's legal authority in this regard. It is worth noting that the decisions renewing remand are issued after the defendant appears with his lawyer before the judge in intervals stipulated in the criminal code.
In the case
no. 34150 for the year
2015, which belongs to Nasr City First Criminal Constituency and is registered under the no. 2985 Eastern Cairo, known as
“Rabaa sit-in dispersal.”
The facts: The defendant’s name was the 107
th in the list of the accused in the said case, where it is noted that he held the U.S. nationality.
During the time from
June 21, 2013 to
August 14, 2013 in Nasr City First area, the defendant joined a gang that attacked a segment of the residents and showed armed resistance to the authorities. In a group of more than five people, their acts aimed at a terrorist objective of disturbing public peace, terrorizing, intimidation, spreading horror among people, endangering their lives, freedoms, and security.
The group assaulted people, encroached on private money, and resisted policemen tasked with dispersing the gathering. They were indicted with premeditated murder, sabotage, willful damage to and illegitimate occupation of buildings and public property, disrupting public facilities, blocking traffic, purposefully stopping and endangering public land transport, limiting the movement of citizens, forcibly depriving them from their freedom of movement using firearms, bladed weapons, explosives and other tools used to assaults people.
The Rabaa square was an unprecedented “horror” scene to ordinary citizens as Muslim Brotherhood members and supported would stash weapons and explosive devices to use for confronting security forces and the Egyptian army, which saved Egypt and the people of Egypt from the grip of the bloodthirsty Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group. Not to mention loud speeches that only included intimidation and calls for revenge against Egypt and its army.
In a court session dated August 8, 2018, Kassem was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crimes committed.
The statement further affirmed that Kassem insisted on pursuing his hunger strike despite being advised – on more than on occasion – of how serious this can be to his health condition, especially that he had diabetes.
“Kassem was provided with all the required legal and medical procedures to prevent him from harming himself, with the follow-up and care of the embassy of the United States,” the statement added.
Egypt has been facing a wave of fake reports that are often based on biased quotes circulated by sympathizers and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.
Kassem went on a hunger strike while he was serving a sentence in Tora prison, and when his health deteriorated, he was sent to the prison’s hospital.
Medical reports said that he had high blood sugar, which led him to be transferred to Cairo University Hospital to receive medical care on Sunday. He was announced dead there.
The top prosecutor also requested his medical file and opened an investigation with the doctors who supervised his health case.
The defendant's vital signs were stable and his consciousness was full in a medical examination, according to a report dated 7/4/2019 by the Ministry of Interior's Prison Sector.
According to an official source, the defendant was shown his indictment during questioning, as well as the evidence. He was enabled to testify and defend himself.
Egypt has been fighting a fierce war against terrorism since the ousting of Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi from power following a popular uprising in 2013, as figures of the terrorist group have threatened on more than one occasion to revenge against the country and its army, which protected and supported the citizens against the ruling and massacres of the blood-thirsty group.
A number of fake news and reports were exposed and denounced regarding human rights in Egypt, including the case of Zubeida Ibrahim, who was mistakenly reported by BBC to be enforced disappeared in Egypt.
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