Preliminary investigations into the death of Essam Ali Atta, 23, whose family say he was tortured to death in prison this week, show that the deceased was not tortured, Misr al-Qademma district prosecutors have said.
Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the prosecutors checking Atta’s body did not find signs of torture.
Meanwhile, Atta’s family retrieved his body from the morgue where it had undergone a speedy autopsy, witnesses said.
Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence said on its Facebook page on Thursday that Atta died after prison guards pumped water through hoses inserted in his mouth and anus, a claim denied by a security official.
Atta “was subjected to savage torture; water hoses were inserted into his mouth and anus, and he was then transferred without his parents’ knowledge to (a Cairo hospital) where he died,” the group said.
It said he was tortured after he smuggled a phone SIM card into prison.
Atta’s sister told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he had told the family the day before he died that a prison guard had been giving him trouble.
The Interior Ministry said Atta, who was convicted in February by a military court of “thuggery and illegally occupying an apartment,” died on Thursday as a “result of an unknown poison.”
A prison doctor who examined him found that Atta was suffering from “an apparently severe drug poisoning,” a statement on the ministry’s website said.
Aida Seif al-Dawla, Al-Nadeem Center’s director, said that the autopsy, which she attended part of, was superficial and the morgue was not equipped for forensic examinations.
However, Tahrir Doctors’ Organization, a group of independent doctors, issued a statement on Saturday denying that Atta had been subject to brutal torture by prison guards which led to his death.
The statement said members of the group attended the autopsy after receiving a request from activists saying that Atta’s family asked that the organization observe the autopsy to guarantee its seriousness and credibility.
Dr. Mohamed Maged Samdy and Dr. Ahmed Seyam from the group attended after receiving permission from the forensic doctors in charge of the autopsy.
The group said the autopsy found two glove fingers stuffed with two kinds of drugs inside Atta’s body, the first cannabis and the second not yet analysed.
The autopsy was carried out at Zainhom morgue on Friday afternoon by three medical examiners who showed great cooperation with the observer doctors, according to the statement.
According to Tahrir Doctors’ Organization, Atta’s uncle said that there were no marks on Atta’s body except a shallow bruise on the right side of his chest, and there were no marks, bruises or scratches around his mouth or anus.
He said the autopsy also showed the absence of any type of skull fracture, brain bleeding or internal injuries to the neck, face, throat or chest. He added the the lungs looked normal, with the exception of some smoking effects.
Prosecutors ordered a complete autopsy of Atta’s body and called in forensic experts to decide whether his death was because of torture or due to drugs.
Prosecutors also summoned for investigation three prisoners who said that Atta was tortured to death.
