Physical assaults on Mohammed Oxygen, refusing to allow visits despite the prosecution’s permission and holding him in solitary confinement
Cairo: 13 June 2018
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) today submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecutor to open an investigation into the incident of beating the prisoner of conscience and video blogger Mohammed Oxygen, and the refusal of Tora Prison Warden “Wael Mohammed” to implement the prosecutor’s permission to his lawyers from ANHRI to enable them to visit him, and also refusing family visits twice and holding him in solitary confinement, in total disregard for the law and the rule of law.
The family of Mohammed Oxygen reported to ANHRI’s lawyers that the prison administration refused to enable them to visit him in prison. ANHRI also recieved information that Oxygen was beaten and was being held in solitary confinement, so ANHRI’s lawyer obtained permission to visit him from the Public Prosecution and presented it to the prison administration on June 5, yet the visitation officials told the lawyer that Oxygen is refusing to meet him. The lawyer asked to see the warden and told him that he insists on the visit or hearing from Oxygen in person that he refuses the visit, but the warden also refused.
ANHRI decided to wait until the Mohammed Oxygen’s imprisonment renewal session to hear from him personally about the allegations of refusing visits and the beating incidents, and Oxygen told ANHRI’s lawyer during the investigation that he learned that there are instructions from National Security AKA “State Security” officers to beat him, deprive him from visits and putting him in solitary confinement, as some kind of further revenge on him because of the videos he posted on his YouTube channel, as if punishing him by illegal imprisonment was not enough. In total disregard for the law.
The lawyer proved these sadistic police practices at the investigation session with Oxygen before the prosecution on June 12. ANHRI also submitted complaint No. 6864 to the Public Prosecutor today to open an investigation into the series of deliberate and repetitive crimes against Mohammed Oxygen, namely the physical assaults against him, refusing to enable his lawyer to visit him and placing him in solitary confinement in violation of the law. ANHRI hopes that the Public Prosecutor will immediately open an investigation into these crimes, including the infringement on the authority of the Public Prosecution itself by refusing to implement the visit permission, and trying to put an end to the growing suspicions about the Public Prosecution’s neutrality and its implementation of the rule of law, especially when it comes to its silence about the violations carried out by the security apparatus, and the national security apparatus in particular.
For more information about Mohammed Oxygen:
