2 April 2023
Nasr City Prosecution dismissed the request that AFTE filed last month demanding to reopen the investigation into the mysterious death incident of the economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud inside the Mental Health Hospital in Abbasiya.
This is the second time that the prosecution refused to continue the investigations of this incident, as last year; Nasr City prosecution had decided that criminal prosecution would not occur. AFTE appealed the prosecution’s decision before the Criminal Court; the Court later upheld the Prosecution’s decision to close the investigations and rejected the civil claim filed by hadhoud’s brother against the administration of Abbasiya mental health hospital, and each of whom the investigations shall prove them guilty in Hadhoud’s death.
The official statement that the Egyptian authorities issued regarding the death were that Hadhoud’s death resulted from a chronic heart condition; the prosecution adopted the opinion of the forensic doctor, despite the lack of competence of the forensic doctor to identify and describe physical diseases and stated that there was no criminal suspicion, while many shortcomings marred the investigations as it didn’t provide an accurate description of this heart condition, its causes, and how it led to his death, nor did it provide an explanation for the hospital administration’s deliberate concealment of his whereabouts to his family, and later informed his family of his death after 35 days had passed, besides that the Public Prosecution refused to permit Hadhoud’s family to view the lawsuit files and refused to inform his family of any developments.
5 March 2023 “AFTE demands to reopen the investigation into Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident after the Public Prosecution decided to close the investigations”
Today, the Association for Freedom of Thoughts and Expression submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the civil claimant, the brother of deceased economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud, demanding to reopen an investigation into his brother’s death incident after the Nasr City Prosecution’s decision to close the investigations. The New Cairo Criminal Court upheld the decision.
AFTE also demanded to move forward with the civil lawsuit filed by Hadhoud’s brother against the administration of the Mental Health Hospital in Abbasiya, where he was found dead.
In February 2022, Hadhoud was arrested from Zamalek district, Cairo; the Ministry of Interior claimed in a subsequent statement after his death that he attempted to break into an apartment, and the building guard reported him to the police while Hadhood repeated incomprehensible phrases, which questioned his mental powers, Accordingly, the prosecution adjourned the investigations waiting for the Court’s decision to check his mental state, the Court later decided that Hadhoud should be placed in the Mental Health Hospital in Abbasiya, and during his admission period in the hospital, its administration refrained from giving his family any information about his custody, even after his death inside the hospital on March 5, his family was not informed of the news until April 11, which is 35 days later after his death, his body remained in the morgue.
Nasr City Prosecution ordered an autopsy on Hadhoud’s body, and the forensic report concluded that there was no criminal suspicion that led to his death and that his death resulted from a chronic heart condition from which Hudhud was suffering without giving an accurate description of that condition and its causes, the Prosecution also reused to permit Hadhoud’s family or his defense to look into the lawsuit papers nither informing them of any development, until the Public Prosecution issued a decision to close investigations in the lawsuit, and the Cairo Criminal Court upheld the decision.
The memorandum of reasons to reopen an investigation was based on several reasons, including
The Public Prosecution’s refusal to enable Hadhoud’s brother to comment on the statements of the witnesses, deliberately excluded his defense team, and refused their requests to view the case papers, or to know any developments regarding the progress of the investigations, and also refused to unload the cameras around the property, which the Ministry of Interior claimed that Hadhoud attempted to steal it, nor to unload the cameras in the Qasr al-Nil and Amiriya police stations, and the hallway cameras of the Mental Health Hospital in Abbasiya.
Ayman Hadhoud’s body was kept in a mortuary for 35 days amid deliberate concealment by hospital officials, who refused to inform his family despite knowing his place of residence or handing over his body.
Article (35) of the Psychiatric Patient Care Law obligates the patient’s family to be notified in case of death within twenty-four hours from the date of death, along with sending a detailed report on the deceased patient’s condition, examinations and treatment methods used. Despite this, the Public Prosecution Office did not show interest in investigating the incident of hiding the body for 35 days, the hospital administration refused to inform the family of the death, despite their repeated questions. Article (36) of the same law gave several rights to the detained patient, which the Public Prosecution neglected to investigate; it also neglected the deficiencies that marred the transparency of the investigations, such as the hospital administration’s intention to conceal information from his family, keeping the body in the mortuary refrigerator and not clarify the time of death.
In the anatomical report, the forensic doctor suggested that the causes of Hadhoud’s death were due to a chronic heart condition that Hudhood may have suffered from during his life and that another disease exacerbated the condition and later led to death, the investigation papers of the death incident were devoid of a heart doctor’s opinion, the prosecution adopted the opinion of the forensic doctor, despite the lack of competence of the forensic doctor to identify and describe physical diseases.
On April 12, the Public Prosecution issued a statement declaring that there was no criminal suspicion that led to death before starting investigations or hearing doctors’ statements and before receiving the final anatomical report.
AFTE demands, on behalf of Omar Hadhoud, to reopen and continue the investigations, to allow Hadhoud’s brother to examine the entire lawsuit papers, enable him to express his requests in the case, and form a tripartite committee of experts, forensic doctors, and doctors specializing in cardiology to examine the anatomical report to find out the reasons that led to death in details.
To read the full memorandum of reasons, click here.
23 June 2022 “New Cairo Criminal Court upholds the Public Prosecution’s decision to close investigations regarding Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident”
Today, New Cairo Criminal Court (Circuit 28) decided to uphold Nasr City Prosecution’s decision that no criminal prosecution would take place, which means to close investigations into Case No. 738 of 2022, regarding the economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident inside Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital. Despite the diverse legal pleas demanding to complete the investigations.
The court, headed by Councilman Hassan Farid, also decided to reject the civil claim filed by hadhoud’s family defense against the Abbasiya mental health hospital administration, and each of whom the investigations shall prove them guilty in Hadhoud’s death.
On June 1, Nasr City Prosecution decided that no criminal prosecution would take place. Thus, AFTE and EIPR filed an appeal against the prosecution’s decision before the New Cairo Criminal Court, which examined the appeal today and decided to accept the appeal in form and rejected its merits.
In the previous hearing, Hadhoud’s defense submitted a memorial of pleas before the Court, challenging the Prosecution’s decision not to prosecute; the memorial included the following pleas: lack of Prosecution’s impartiality in the investigations, releasing a press release denying any criminal suspicion that resulted in Hodhoud’s death before the investigations are completed, the Prosecution’s exclusivity to conduct the investigations without informing Hadhoud’s family with any updates or what took place in the investigations, as well as preventing them from reviewing the lawsuit papers, the public prosecution only relied upon a forensic doctor’s opinion who attributed the causes of Hohood’s death to a chronic heart condition, without consulting another doctor and without clarifying or describing this condition accurately or specifying the nature of the condition that Houdhoud suffered from and led to his death.
20 June 2022 Criminal Court to adjudicate appeal against the Prosecution’s decision to close investigations regarding Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident on June 23
Today, New Cairo Criminal Court (Circuit 28) set next 23 June as a date to adjudicate the appeal against the Prosecution’s decision to close the investigations of economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident inside Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital.
Last May 19, both AFTE and EIPR submitted two requests to Nasr City prosecution to resume its investigations on Hadhoud’s death; However, on June 1, the prosecution decided that no criminal prosecution would take place. Thus both organizations appealed the prosecution’s decision before New Cairo Criminal Court, which held its first session the day before yesterday and decided to allow Hadhoud’s family to review the lawsuit’s files without writing down any details or photographing or quoting the lawsuit documents.
And today, Hadhoud’s defense submitted a memorial of pleas before the Court, challenging the Prosecution’s decision not to prosecute, the memorial included the following pleas: lack of Prosecution’s impartiality in the investigations, releasing a press release denying any criminal suspicion that resulted in Hodhoud’s death before the investigations are completed, the Prosecution’s exclusivity to conduct the investigations without informing Hadhoud’s family with any updates or what took place in the investigations, as well as preventing them from reviewing the lawsuit papers, the public prosecution only relied upon a forensic doctor’s opinion who attributed the causes of Hohood’s death to a chronic heart condition, without consulting another doctor and without clarifying or describing this condition accurately or specifying the nature of the condition that Houdhoud suffered from and led to his death.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights call on the Public Prosecution to remain impartial while conducting the investigations process to uncover the circumstances of the economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud’s death after his arrest and enforced disappearance on February 5, until he appeared dead, amid many vague events that both organizations hope that the Prosecution will reveal its details.
19 May 2022 AFTE and EIPR submit two requests to the prosecution to investigate Ayman Hadhoud’s death
Today, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights submitted two requests to Nasr City prosecution, to resume it investigations in case No. 738 of 2022, regarding economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud’s death incident inside Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital.
The first request demanded unloading the security cameras in several locations linked to the statements of the Ministry of Interior from one side, and Hadhoud’s brother’s testimony from the other side, as the two organizations demanded to download security cameras at Maraashly street in Zamalek from 10:30 pm on February 5 until the morning of February 6, the period -in which Omar Hodhoud reported his brother’s disappearance- specifically the installed cameras that monitor the entrance to property 15A, the property from which Hodhoud was arrested for allegedly attempting to rob an apartment, according to the Ministry of Interior’s statement.
In addition to this, unloading the security cameras of the Qasr al-Nil and Amiriya police stations between February 6 and February 17, inside the corridors and outside the gates of the two police stations, and inside the men’s detention room and the detainees’ waiting room, as well as unloading the security cameras inside the corridors and outside the gates of Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital and inside the men’s ward and outside the gate and fence of the hospital’s forensic medicine unit, from February 13 till March 5, 2020.
The second request was to include the files of Case No. 672 of 2022 (Qasr El Nil Misdemeanors) regarding accusing Hadhoud of attempting to rob an apartment. Subsequently, Hodhoud was hospitalized at Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital, to Case No. 738 of 2022 (Nasr City Administrative); as they share facts related to the same person.
Last April 24, AFTE and EIPR submitted a request to the head of the Nasr City Public Prosecution of a civil claim, in Case No. 738 of 2022 (Nasr City Administrative), on behalf of Omar Mohamed Hadhoud, the economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud’s brother.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights call on the prosecution to conduct a serious investigation regarding Ayman Hodhoud’s death incident, starting from his enforced disappearance and being subjected to investigation by the National Security, and leaving his corpse for over a month without informing his relatives of any information about him, according to the joint statement issued by the human rights organizations.
24 April 2022 “A request to the prosecution to file a civil claim regarding Ayman Hadhoud’s death”
Today, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression and The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, on behalf of Omar Mohamed Hadhoud, the brother of deceased economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud, filed a request to the head of Nasr City’s Prosecution to file a civil claim, pending lawsuit No. 738 of 2022 (Nasr City administrative), against the administration of Abbasiya mental health hospital, and each of whom the investigations shall prove them guilty in Hadhoud’s death.
The prosecution permitted Omar Hadhoud’s lawyer, Fatma Serag, to view the forensic report, which contained the details of the autopsy and its results, Hudhoud’s blood samples reports, and the echocardiograms report of the economic researcher.
It is noteworthy that Omar Hodhoud had testified in the prosecution’s investigations about his suspicion of a criminal act that led to his brother’s death as a result of physical assaults that caused his death, and he demands an investigation.
AFTE and EIPR hope that the Public Prosecution shall do its part in uncovering the circumstances of the economic researcher Ayman Hodhoud’s death, and his detention without notifying his relatives or lawyers and that the investigations will address the questions raised by Egyptian human rights organizations in their joint statement about the circumstances of economic researcher Ayman Hodhoud’s death. AFTE and EIPR will follow the legal directions to reach the truth about Ayman Hadhoud’s death.
