Mr. Mohammad Mahmud Salih Al Aswani (aged 60) is one of the oldest political prisoners in Egypt. He has been detained for close to 31 years and he remains behind bars in the high security prison of Lyman Tura. He is carrying out sentences resulting from three trails in the Supreme State Security Court. However, there are a number of elements which undermine the fair nature of these trials: amongst others, he was found guilty for events which actually took place while he was in prison, he was not able to obtain the assistance of a lawyer and was judged by a judge which was not in a position to judge him.

Mr Al Aswani was arrested in 1981 in the context of what is called the "Kadiya jihad kobra" (a crackdown on an Islamic organisation in Egypt at the time) following the assassination of President Sadat on 6 October 1981. He was taken to the infamous "Kalaa" prison, under the authority of the security services at that time, and was questioned under torture, including electric shocks, whipping, severe beatings on the head, being forced to stand in dirty water for long periods. Mr Al Aswani therefore made detailed confessions of his relations to other suspects and his membership of an extremist "jihadist" organization.

The security services however were apparently not satisfied with this, and to further increase pressure on Mr Al Aswani, they arrested his blind father Mahmud Al Aswani, his blind mother Kaothar, his brother Tarik Al Aswani and his younger sister Abeer Al Aswani. They were all taken to the State Security service in Lazoghly where they were subjected to beatings, and psychological and physical attacks.

In 1993, Mr. Al Aswani was again tried and sentenced to another 12 years due to a collective escape attempt. All those who had attempted to escape alongside him were released except for Mr Al Aswani.

In 1998, Mr. Al Aswani was again presented to the Military Court, accused of belonging to "talyiaa alfath" (an Islamic organisation). He was again sentenced, for the third time, to 10 years imprisonment. This added to Mr Al Aswani's prison sentence to make a total of 47 years imprisonment.

However, at present, Mr. Al Aswani suffers from a number of serious health problems due to his imprisonment and the torture he suffered at the beginning of his detention. He is paralyzed on half his body and is unable to move without a wheelchair; in addition, he is an aging man: he recently turned sixty. Due to his health problems, he is kept at the hospital of Lyman Tura prison which lacks the most basic equipment necessary for his care, this accompanied by deliberate medical negligence, means that he finds himself in a deplorable condition at present.

Mr. Al Aswani's paralysis was a result of a cerebral clot caused by severe attack by prison guards at Lyman Tura prison following the assassination attempt against President Hosni Mohammad Mubarak in 1995.

Alkarama's researcher in Egypt, lawyer Ahmed Mefreh stated that "keeping Mr. Aswani in detention cannot be justified, especially given that the man has now spend nearly 31 years continuously detained, on the basis of provisions issued by special courts which do not meet even the lowest international fair trial norms."

Mr Mefreh explained that "the decisions of the judges of the courts that considered the case of Mr. Al-Aswany were not subject to appeal, in clear violation of international laws and conventions signed by Egypt, which gave his trial an arbitrary character."

Abeer Mohammed al-Aswani, Mr. Aswani's sister said that "despite the military council decision to release my brother, he is still in detention until now. This is despite the fact that medical reports have stated his urgent need for better health care."

She added that "the family sent several letters to the Attorney-General, the Military Council and Mr Essam Sharaf to request his release as soon as possible, like many of his peers who have been released in recent weeks. The last letter was sent to Mr. Nabil Al Maghrebi; however, there has been no response to our calls."

Our organization confirms Mr Al Aswani has a right to human dignity without discrimination, given that human rights are inalienable and above any other consideration. Our organization calls on the Egyptian authorities to release Mohammed al-Aswani, just like his peers who have received release orders. This is particularly important, given that according to his family and medical reports, the deterioration in Mr. Aswan's health is a result of the torture and physical abuse he suffered in prison.