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Egypt Accuses Muslim Brotherhood of Spreading Lies about Prison Conditions

An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
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Egypt Accuses Muslim Brotherhood of Spreading Lies about Prison Conditions

An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)

The security authorities in Egypt have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of spreading lies about the conditions in prisons in the country.

In a statement reported by Egypt’s state-owned news agency, a security source denied what was broadcast by pro-Brotherhood satellite channels on violations against sentenced leaders from the banned organization.

Most of the organization’s leaders, which is deemed terrorist Egyptian authorities, are in prison due to their involvement in violent acts that took place following the ouster of late former president Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013.

They were sentenced to life imprisonment, and some are facing the death penalty.

In a statement, the Ministry of Interior stressed that the rumors are false, dismissing them as ongoing attempts by pro-Brotherhood media to sow sedition.

It added that all prisoners were being provided with the necessary healthcare.

Egypt had previously organized visits by foreign officials to examine the situation at prisons and detention centers.

Moreover, it recently intensified its parliamentary and government action to respond to reports on the conditions at prisons.

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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.