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The Association of Doctors Working with the Health Sector in Egypt has called on the Doctors’ Syndicate to organize a day of protests on Saturday in solidarity with doctors who have been detained for political reasons.
The association objected, in a statement made on Monday, to denying their detained colleagues freedom. It also decried the neglect they are suffering from, with regards to their health care while in prison.
Doctors Ahmed Saeed, Ibrahim al-Yamany, Amr Atef and dozens of other doctors who are prisoners of conscience, have been detained for carrying out their humanitarian duty in field hospitals and are being treated in a way that violates all their human rights in prison, the statement said.
It called on doctors to support each other’s freedoms and rights and stand as one cohesive voice to apply pressure against unjust rulings that could be issued against their colleagues.
The statement added that the association plans to protest at the Doctors’ Syndicate on Saturday, December 26, and called on the syndicate’s board to take part in the protest.
The association also pointed to protests and a press conference held by journalists to provide health care for detained journalists, saying that such a move should have been made by the Doctors’ Syndicate, rather than by the journalists.
The statement revealed that one of the detainees is vascular surgeon Ahmed Saeed, who resides in Germany and came to Egypt on vacation to commemorate the Mohamed Mahmoud Street clashes. Saeed worked at the Mohamed Mahmoud Street field hospital during the clashes, saving the lives of several injured protesters, but was nonetheless among the people who were arrested. Saeed was sentenced to two years in prison. The statement added that the court will decide on the appeal he filed against the ruling on December 30.
