A young Egyptian man who had been imprisoned after making the video for a very critical song by President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi died Saturday in a Cairo prison, his lawyer said. Chadi Habache, 24, died in Tora prison, Ahmed al-Khawaga, who was unable to give reasons for the death, told AFP. " It had been a few days since his health deteriorated (...) He was hospitalized then he returned last night to prison where he died overnight, " he said, without giving more details. . Chadi Habache was detained in March 2018, accused of " spreading false news " and " belonging to an illegal organization ", according to the prosecution.
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He was arrested after making the clip for the song Balaha performed by rock singer Rami Issam. The latter sharply criticizes Mr. “Balaha”, a name whose President Sissi is decked out by his detractors in reference to the famous character of an Egyptian film for being a notorious liar.
Rami Issam had notably made himself known during the popular revolt of January-February 2011 against the then president Hosni Mubarak, and has since gone into exile in Sweden. Censored in Egypt, the clip has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube.
In a message on Twitter, Bahey Eldin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, ruled that President Sissi had " direct responsibility " in the imprisonment of Chadi Habache " for the simple reason that he participated in a song which criticizes him and because no judge dares to attest the innocence of someone who criticized the President of the Republic ”. For the Arab Network for Human Rights and Information (ANHRI), Habache died due to " negligence and the absence of justice ".
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" Prison does not kill, it is loneliness that kills (...) I need your support so as not to succumb (...) I die slowly every day ", wrote Chadi Habache in a letter in October 2019, published on Facebook on Saturday by human rights activist and writer Ahdaf Soueif after the announcement of his death.
Conditions of detention in Egypt are regularly reported by human rights organizations. And since early March, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, authorities have suspended visits to the visiting room and court work, further isolating detainees. " Because of the measures taken against the coronavirus, no one has been able to see " Chadi Habache recently, said the lawyer Ahmed al-Khawaga.
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Fearing contagion in overcrowded prisons, human rights defenders called for the release of prisoners of conscience as well as detainees awaiting trial. Several NGOs estimate the number of political prisoners in Egypt, Islamist or liberal opponents, targets of the repression following the 2013 military dismissal of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically civilian president, of 60,000 out of a total of 100,000 detainees. elected president of Egypt.