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Egypt rejects medical release of hunger-striker Mohamed Soltan Request denied from 12 rights groups to release Mohamed Soltan, who has been on hunger strike for over 280 days and is in poor health
A request to release detained hunger-striking Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan due to his deteriorating health condition was refused for the fourth time on Wednesday. Cairo Criminal court rejected the request filed by 12 rights groups, describing it as "a blatant intervention in judiciary work". Three requests were filed previously in October, but all were rejected. Soltan, 26, is on trial with 50 others, including top Muslim Brotherhood leaders, in the case known as the "Rabaa control room". The court adjourned the case on Wednesday to 16 November. Soltan has been on hunger-strike for over 280 days, causing several local and international rights groups, including Amnesty International, to voice deep concerns over his deteriorating medical condition. Soltan's family have launched a hunger strike in solidarity, calling on the Egyptian public to join them and also urging the US to help release him. Soltan and other defendants are accused of setting up an operations room during the Brotherhood-led Rabaa Al-Adaweya protest camp in July - August 2013, as part of plans to defy the state and spread chaos, as well as plot attacks on police stations, private property and churches. His family claims he was not involved in politics and had returned to Egypt to care for his sick mother. His father, Saleh Soltan, a leading Islamic preacher was rounded up by authorities in a crackdown on Morsi's sympathisers. Several detainees in Egyptian prisons are on hunger-strike to protest either their detention or the controversial protest law under which hundreds have been arrested. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/114811.aspx
