Mohamed Ramdan Yehia (Photo: Courtesy of Freedom for the Students Facebook page)
A student supporter of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi died late Sunday inside an eastern Cairo police station, with the initial forensic inquiry showing he was not subjected to torture, Forensic Authority Spokesperson told Ahram Online.
Mohamed Ramadan Yehia suffered from respiratory distress inside the police station while in detention and died before arriving to the hospital, a security source who asked his name to be withheld told Reuters' affiliated Aswat Masriya.
He died due to shortness of breath and not due to any torture as there are no injuries on his body, the source said, citing hospital and forensic reports.
Hisham Abdel-Megid, Spokesperson of the Forensic authority, told Ahram Online that the deaceased was not tortured according to the initial autopsy findings pending a final report.
However, the Muslim Brotherhood as well as the deceased's family has accused security forces of torturing him.
On the official Facebook page of the banned Freedom and Justice party, and the pro-Morsi Students Against Coup", the brotherhood accused the security forces of torturing Yehia.
Police have stormed at least five campuses since the start of the academic semester on 11 October as students – mostly supporters of the Brotherhood – continue to protest against the current government, who they charge with ousting Morsi in a coup. Over 180 students have been arrested, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, an independent rights body.
The deceased was a law student at Ain Shams University and was arrested in early November for taking pictures of police officials who were examining an alleged explosive device found near the campus gate.
He was allegedly involved with three others in planting explosive devices in front of Ain Shams University, the source said.
At least 95 prisoners have died in the past 12 months inside Egypt's jails, according to an October report issued by New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The government contracted a private security firm to guard 15 public universities nationwide this academic year.
Hundreds of people have been jailed under a law passed in November 2013 that bans all but police-sanctioned demonstrations.
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