Ekip
06 March 2018•Update: 07 March 2018
By Muhammad Mussa
LONDON
A group of senior British MPs, ranging from the governing Conservatives to the opposition Labour and Liberal Democrats, have petitioned the Egyptian government to allow them access to former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.
The move comes amid concerns that Morsi’s health has seriously deteriorated.
The former Egyptian president has been detained in the Tora prison outside of capital Cairo and has been allowed to see his family only twice since he was imprisoned in the aftermath of the military coup in 2013.
There have been concerns over his deteriorating health after reports emerged that he has been denied access to basic medical treatment whilst in jail.
The MPs request to the Egyptian Embassy follows a request from members of Morsi’s family to British politicians and human rights lawyers.
The cross-party group of MPs includes Lord Faulks, a former justice minister, Paul Williams, a member of the health select committee of Labour and Sir Crispin Blunt, former chair of the foreign affairs select committee. International lawyer Tom Moloney QC would act as a legal adviser to the group.
“There are credible concerns that the conditions under which Dr. Morsi is being held might fall significantly short of both international and Egypt’s own standards.
"We make this request to the Egyptian authorities seeking to see and assess for ourselves the conditions in which Dr. Morsi is being detained,” Crispin told the Guardian Tuesday.
Lawyers representing Morsi and close members of his family say the former president had lapsed into two diabetic comas in June last year and that he has not been receiving adequate treatment since. His request to be moved to a private hospital has also been rejected.
Also, speaking to the Guardian, Abdullah Morsi, the 24-year-old son of the former president, said: “We believe he has not received any adequate treatment for his diabetes or blood pressure.
“Because he has not received any proper treatment for his diabetes, he has now lost most of his left eye’s sight and would need urgent surgery.
“But his request for urgent medical treatment during a trial session was refused. Regardless of any person’s opinion of my father or his beliefs, this is unacceptable for anyone.”
Egyptian authorities, however, maintain that Morsi is receiving proper treatment and that doctors and medical personnel have access to the former president. Nonetheless, these claims remain unverified.
Morsi was elected president in 2012 after a popular uprising against the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak. He was overthrown in a military coup a year later in 2013 and imprisoned on charges including endangering national security by leaking documents to Qatar and inciting violence by the Muslim Brotherhood.
He was Egypt’s first democratically-elected president.
