Egyptian National Detained Following Unscheduled Plane Landing In Luxor - Watchdog

Egyptian National Detained Following Unscheduled Plane Landing in Luxor - Watchdog

A prominent human rights watchdog reported on Monday that Egyptian security forces had detained an Egyptian national following the unscheduled landing of his flight in Luxor

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2022) A prominent human rights watchdog reported on Monday that Egyptian security forces had detained an Egyptian national following the unscheduled landing of his flight in Luxor.

On January 12, a 29-year-old Egyptian citizen Hossam Menoufy Mahmoud Sallam traveled from Khartoum, Sudan to Istanbul, Turkey on a direct flight, but the plane made an unplanned landing at the Luxor International Airport in Egypt, according to information provided by his friends and family to the Human Rights Watch. Security officers summoned Menoufy to check his passport and travel documents. The man was last seen in the custody of Egyptian officials.

"The Egyptian government should immediately disclose Hossam Menoufy's whereabouts and allow his lawyer and family to see him," Joe Stork, deputy middle East director at Human Rights Watch said, adding that "forcibly disappearing him is a serious crime."

Egyptian leadership refused to give any information about Menoufy's whereabouts, according to the watchdog. On January 15, Egypt's Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that Menoufy had been incarcerated while his case was being further investigated. Egyptian state media said Menoufy was a founder and prominent member of the Hasm armed group and that security forces accuse him of being engaged in several bombings and murders.

In March 2020, Menoufy was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in the case, concerning the attempted assassination of assistant prosecutor general Zakaria Abdul Aziz in September 2016, the NGO reported.

Menoufy moved to Sudan from Egypt in 2016 due to government persecution concerns. His friend told the watchdog that he had been a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, which was was classified as terrorist in Egypt in 2013.

According to the watchdog, in recent years Egyptian security forces detained hundreds of people including many alleged members of the Muslim Brotherhood, confined for weeks, months, or even years later before they were charged or released.