From the Daily Star Egypt:
A third detained member of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has been admitted to the intensive care unit at Manial University Hospital after developing a serious heart condition in Tora prison, but prison officials have denied him access to treatment, the group said in a statement.
Hassan Zalat, who is one of 40 Brotherhood members currently being tried before a military court on charges of money laundering and membership of a banned organization, was admitted to intensive care and put on a respirator after his health deteriorated inside the prison.
Brotherhood sources say that Zalat suffers from high blood pressure and clogged arteries and may require bypass surgery. Manial University Hospital says it does not have the resources to treat him.
His family has requested that he be moved to a more specialized hospital for the surgery and has offered to pay the full cost, but prison officials have so far refused to approve the transfer.
“Zalat is supposed to have open-heart surgery, but the regime won’t allow it,” said Ibrahim El Houdaiby, board member of ikhwanweb.com, the MB’s official website.
“He has been sick for a long time — when they arrested him back in February he had just had a heart operation,” he added. “He was arrested out of his bed and carried in to the police truck [wrapped] in blankets.”
Zalat is the third Brotherhood detainee to develop serious health problems while in prison, and in all three cases there have been complaints that the state is denying prisoners proper medical care.
