Jailed Morsi supporters declare hunger strike in Alexandria

Ahram Online , Tuesday 6 Aug 2013

More pro-Morsi detainees go on hunger strike protesting ill treatment in prison in Borg Al-Arab

Around 170 detained supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt's Alexandria have gone on hunger strike, their lawyer Mahmoud Gaber said on Tuesday.

Mistreatment and the administration allowing other inmates to beat and insult them are some of the supporters' complaints while in detention at Al-Ghorbanyat prison in Borg Al-Arab near Alexandria, cites Gaber.

The pro-Morsi protesters were detained in recent clashes with anti-Morsi protesters and security forces in the coastal city.

On Saturday, Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Ali Kamal, who represents some 179 Morsi supporters detained in Cairo, announced that his clients have gone on a hunger strike to protest similar ill treatment and assaults while in detention.

Many pro-Morsi demonstrators were arrested in the wake of recent clashes, however, there are no official, certain numbers.

The ousted president’s supporters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, have been staging protests and sit-ins nationwide calling for his reinstatement. The interior ministry has issued warnings calling on them to disperse and guaranteeing a "safe exit." So far, they have remained defiant.

Morsi was deposed by the army on 3 July amid unprecedented mass nationwide protests against him.

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