Moustafa Kassem
WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has confirmed the death of an Egyptian-American, Moustafa Kassem, who had been imprisoned for alleged involvement in anti-government protests after President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi came to power in Egypt in 2013.
The US State Department said Kassem’s death in custody was needless, tragic and avoidable.
He had been on a hunger strike and had stopped taking liquids on Thursday.
He was one of 600 people sentenced in a mass trial over a sit-in that ended with the security forces killing hundreds of protesters.
The New York Times says the 54-year-old had insisted he had no links to opposition politics and when he was detained by Egyptian soldiers, they “snatched his American passport and stomped it on the ground”. — NNN-AGENCIES
