Egypt’s ElBaradei urges health care to jailed former MP

CAIRO (AA) – Former Egyptian Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei has called for providing health care to Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagy, who was jailed after Egypt’s 2013 military coup.

“Medical care is a fundamental human right and must be available to everyone, even if his freedom is restricted,” ElBaradei said on Twitter on Saturday.

“This applies to Mohamed al-Beltagy or any person who needs health care,” he said.

On Friday, al-Beltagy’s family said the health of the jailed Brotherhood leader has recently deteriorated.

“For the third year in a row, we have been prohibited from visiting him in Cairo’s Al-Aqrab Prison,” the family said in a statement.

“We recently learned of his deteriorating health condition,” the statement read. “He has suffered a stroke inside prison.”

The statement held the Egyptian authorities responsible for al-Beltagy’s health, going on to call for his immediate transfer to hospital for medical treatment.

The Egyptian authorities have consistently claimed that prison inmates are treated “in line with the law and the constitution”.

Following Egypt’s 2013 military coup, al-Beltagy -- who had earlier served as a member of Egypt’s parliament -- was slapped with multiple prison terms.

ElBaradei briefly served as vice-president following Egypt’s 2013 military coup, which led to the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader.