Detained Egyptian ex-presidential candidate Aboul Fotouh’s life 'in danger'

A former Egyptian presidential candidate's health is deteriorating  in prison, his son said on social media on Monday.

Prison authorities have said that Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh's health has become worse but refused to give details.

Aboul Fotouh is a liberal Islamist who left the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011 and took part in democratic presidential elections in 2012 as an independent candidate. He later founded the Strong Egypt Party.

"I have just returned from Torra Prison and the administration informed me that they cannot give me any update other than that my father is going through a crisis of health due to the extreme heat," his son Hozaifa posted on Facebook.

"I still have no information about the nature of the health crisis and his current situation in prison," he added.

70-year-old Aboul Fotouh has been detained without trial since February 2018 and his health has deteriorated severely in prison.

He was arrested after giving an interview to the Al Jazeera television news channel, in which he criticised the government of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

His health has been getting worse ever since he was detained. In April, he reportedly suffered a near-fatal heart attack after being assaulted by a prison officer.

In 2012, Aboul Fotouh came in fourth place in the first round of the 2012 presidential elections, with 17 percent of the vote.

He was seen as espousing a more liberal kind of Islamism than the Muslim Brotherhood’s official candidate, Mohammed Morsi, who went on to win the 2012 Egyptian presidential election.

Following his election defeat, Aboul Fotouh founded the Strong Egypt party.

Morsi was overthrown in a military coup led by current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in 2013.

He died in an Egyptian courtroom in 2019 after suffering severe medical neglect in prison, and human rights groups have expressed strong fears that Aboul Fotouh will suffer the same fate.