The Interior Ministry denied news published on the British website of The Times newspaper regarding the detention of approximately 600 children between 14 and 17 years old in an underground prison affiliated with a Central Security Forces camp in the Qalyubia governorate.
In a statement on Friday, the ministry said no detention cells exist at the Central Security camps, adding that no prisoners below 18 years old are kept at Egyptian prisons.
The statement also said that law prevents detention of children under the age of 18 at the ministry’s prisons, as they should be held at juvenile houses affiliated with the Social Solidarity Ministry.
The ministry assured that the prison sector and all issues related to prisoners are fully supervised by the judiciary.
According to the newspaper, the children are accused of joining terrorist organizations and assaulting police officers.
A Minya judge know as the "MB executioner" unknowingly sentenced a minor to death in June, as part of a mass Brotherhood death sentence. It wasn't until the judge read Al-Masry Al-Youm that he discovered the accused was a minor, and the child was acquitted.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
