Egyptian Prisoners Stage Mass Protest
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Thousands of Egyptian prisoners have refused to attend trials and staged hunger strikes in protest at the conditions and violations of justice, rights groups told Al Jazeera.
The protests, which began on Thursday, come days after nearly 700 people, accused of violence and of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to death in a mass trial that lasted four days.
A statement issued on behalf of the prisoners said the strike was taking place in 90 jails and detention centres in order to protest against the mass trials, and appaling jail conditions.
"We have started our hunger strike now. Plus we've decided not to go out for exercise. We won't be attending any court sessions nor will we stand before any prosecutors," a prisoner at the Wadi al Natrun told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
A panel of human rights groups said that security forces on Wednesday morning entered a prison in Fayoum, 100km south of Cairo, to force prisoners to attend their court sessions. Several prisoners were reportedly injured.
According to a report by the Arab-African International Centre for Consultancy and Human Rights, 20,000 prisoners were involved in the protest.
Prisoners vowed to continue their strike until all their demands are met, with plans to launch a second phase on May 3.
