Aboul Fotouh; Egyptian Politician Insulted by Sadat, Arrested by Mubarak, and Sisi is Killing Him Slowly

"They arrested him because he said a word of truth in an interview on Al-Jazeera, and because he was the only presidential candidate in Egypt in 2012, who tried to end secular religious polarization in the door of failure and massacres."

These are the words of the Palestinian poet Tamim Barghouti, written on Facebook, on al-Adha feast, July 19, 2021, about former Muslim Brotherhood leader, former presidential candidate, and detained politician, Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.

The head of The “Strong Egypt” Party, a 70-year-old former trade unionist and Egyptian doctor, is living in difficult humanitarian and health conditions in the prisons of Egypt's ruling regime, his son Huthaifa revealed on July 25, 2021.

"After more than 3 years and 5 months of pretrial detention, solitary confinement in complete isolation, and a continuing deterioration in his health that threatens his life every moment, when does he return home?" he said in a Facebook post.

In the light of the deaths of hundreds of prison detainees, especially elderly Muslim Brotherhood members, Hadifa expressed concerns about his father's life, especially as he suffered severe heart attacks in his prison, which the prison administration ignores.

Since the 2013 coup of former army commander and current regime chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, "731 detainees have died because of denial of health care," according to the Justice Committee in Geneva.

The Abu Al-Fattouh family has consistently filed complaints proving that the Egyptian politician has been subjected to medical neglect and health crises.

Who is He?

Abdul Moneim Abu al-Fattouh Abdul Hadi, born October 15, 1951, to a family from a village in Kafr al-Zayat city, Western Delta province.

He received his Bachelor of Medicine from Qasr al-Aini, with a very good rating, but his political activity and public work deprived him of his appointment at Cairo University, but he later received his Master of Hospital Management from the Faculty of Commerce at Helwan University.

His general work began at Cairo University, where he served as president of the Union of The Faculty of Medicine of Qasr al-Aini in 1973, president of the Cairo University Student Union in 1975, then joined the Muslim Brotherhood and served as a member of its guidance office from 1987 to 2009.

Aboul Fotouh was elected Assistant Secretary-General of the Doctors' Union in 1984, Secretary of the Union's Humanitarian Relief Committee from 1986 to 1989, and Secretary-General of the Union from 1988 to 1992.

From 1992 to 2004, he served as Assistant Secretary-General and Treasurer of the Union of Doctors from March 2004.

Early Courage

He was described as the most daring and fierce in opposing the regimes, so Aboul Fotouh's life was marked by confrontations with Egyptian regimes, starting with former regime president Anwar Sadat, when he was a student leader.

He then had more intense confrontations with former regime president Hosni Mubarak when he was a doctor, secretary general of the Doctors' Union and the Arab Doctors Union, and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood until March 2011.

He had a well-known event that most Egyptian students interested in politics know, as during a conference attended by Sadat in February 1977, he spoke as a representative of Cairo University students criticizing his policies.

Speaking about the authorities' ban on Sheikh Mohammed al-Ghazali from speaking at the Amr ibn al-Aas mosque and the arrest of students demonstrating on campus, he told Sadat in unprecedented audacity that those working around him were "a group of hypocrites."

Because of his position against Sadat signing the Camp David treaty with Israel, Abu Al-Fattouh's first crisis with the arrests was that Sadat’s famous campaign in September 1981, for several months, was prolonged with politicians, officials, journalists and Islamists.

Despite his work under trade union laws, his activity and presence prompted Mubarak to be tried militarily in a Muslim Brotherhood case for the second time in 1991 for five years.

But nearly eight years later, his election to the post of secretary general of the Arab Doctors Union did not prevent Mubarak from arresting him for several months in 2009, alleging that he belonged to the Brotherhood and opposed the regime, to register as political detainees for the third time.

Under Egypt's ruling military council following the January revolution (2012-2013), Abu Al-Fattouh stepped up strongly and competed for Egypt’s presidency.

But as what was then known as the "third party", which committed crimes against demonstrators and rebels, Abu Al-Fattouh was attacked by three gunmen on the evening of February 23, 2012, after a mass rally in Manufiya governorate.

Abu al-Fattouh was arrested for the fourth time, but under Sisi, since February 14, 2018, on charges of spreading false news after returning from the UK following an interview with Al Jazeera in which he criticized the regime's president's ruling and described his era as a "state of fear."

In violation of the law limiting the period of pretrial detention to only two years; Aboul Fotouh is in his custody despite his release, where the security authorities insist on refusing to release him.

In mid-June 2021, the State Security Prosecution released Aboul Fotouh, but his detention was renewed on new charges, in accordance with the regime's policy of "recycling the accused."

Aboul Fotouh was arrested for the first time after returning from a student camp in Rome, Italy.

Although his name appeared on the September 1981 arrests, Abu al-Fattouh rejected some's advice to stay out of the country.

In his recent arrest crisis, some advised him not to return for fear of being arrested, but the elderly Aboul Fotouh refused, telling al-Jazeera's broadcaster during the exciting meeting: "I have no place on the globe except Egypt, I will return, I can only live outside for a job."

Egypt's first presidential election following the January 25, 2011 revolution, one of whose symbols was a great opportunity for Abu Al-Fattouh to complete his dreams for Egypt, Egyptians for freedom, prosperity and good governance, but he got out of the race early and finished fourth in the first round.

He decided to run for election on March 29, 2012, in a decision rejected by the Brotherhood, which preferred not to participate, at the time, offering to separate the group and start a clash with some of its leaders.

Aboul Fotouh's experience, the public work he practiced, his moderate opinions and his attitudes that satisfied many elites made him make a place among the Egyptian elites and the general Egyptians, who saw his orientations as more open than the Brotherhood.

Indeed, a wide range of elite and political, youth and revolutionary forces welcomed the candidacy of Aboul Fotouh such as activist Wael Ghoneim, writer Bilal Fadl, artists Hanan Turk, Athar al-Hakim, Mohamed Sobhi and Hamza Nimra, and the "Al-Wasat" and "Construction and Development" parties.

November 12, 2012, was a happy day for Abu Al-Fotouh, where the authorities agreed to establish the center-left Egypt party, headed by him, with a large number of Egyptian elites of different political and intellectual orientations.

Roles and Opinions

Although Aboul Fotouh objected to the constitutional declaration issued by the late President Mohamed Morsi in November 2012, he did not participate in the Salvation Front, formed by politicians against Morsi.

Although his “Powerful Egypt” party called for demonstrations on June 30, 2013, calling on Morsi to call early presidential elections, he rejected the July 3, 2013 declaration, calling it a "coup" and refusing to break up the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in.

These positions have made Aboul Fotouh the subject of regime attack, and even as Sisi won the first presidential term in 2014, his media appearance in Egypt declined and he was classified as an opponent of the regime.

Relief and humanitarian work was the largest in Abu al-Futtoh's life as a member of the Brotherhood, which is interested in this matter, and after chairing the Relief and Emergency Committee of the Arab Doctors Union at the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century.

His presence was prominent in Egyptian crises such as the Aswan and Sinai incidents, the disaster of the fall of The Rock of Doweiqa under Mubarak, as well as his role in supporting Arab crises in Somalia, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.

Aboul Fotouh believed in the need to separate Islamic advocacy from partisanship and competition for power, and wrote several books in advocacy, education and politics, including "Renewers, Not Wasters" in 2009.

In the book, he tried to open a new page in dialogue with the other, no matter what, based on openness, sanity and insight.

It is also a book that is similar to the biography and history of the Islamic movement and its conflicts with the regimes of that era.

Aboul Fotouh's absence for nearly three and a half years undoubtedly left a vacuum in Egypt's political situation, and the elites lost a quiet and sensibly voice, and the regime gained an enemy with many supporters.

On the day of Arafat's on July 18, 2021, the head of the "Center" party, Engineer Abu Alala Madi, published his picture and Aboul Fotouh from Hungary in 2005, telling him: "Every year and you are good my big brother and beloved."

"Today we are pleased that a number of well-known names have been released from prison, and I hope that you too will be released and have completed more than 3 years of pretrial detention."

On July 26, 2012, Middle East Eye published a report on Aboul Fotouh, saying that he survived a heart attack in the notorious Tora prison, referring to the prison administration's failure to provide emergency care.

He confirmed that Aboul Fotouh, one of 60,000 political detainees imprisoned by Sisi, referring to fears that the man's life would be subjected to death such as President Morsi and former MP Essam al-Arian, due to medical negligence and poor conditions in prisons.