Fears mount for mental state of imprisoned blogger Mohamed Oxygen after refusal to attend mother’s funeral

A lawyer for imprisoned blogger Mohamed “Oxygen” Ibrahim is looking to file a lawsuit before the State Council to compel the Interior Ministry to allow Ibrahim visitation rights in prison, fearing that his mental health has severely deteriorated after being denied any contact with his family for nearly two years.

Concern over Ibrahim’s mental state mounted after he refused to attend his mother’s burial and funeral service on Monday, despite the Interior Ministry’s approval of a request submitted by his lawyer, Nabih al-Genady. “This may indicate that [Ibrahim’s] psychological condition has deteriorated to a life-threatening degree, especially in light of his previous suicide attempt,” Genady told Mada Masr.

In July 2021, Ibrahim attempted suicide while in detention at Tora Prison Complex, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, which described the attempt as being a result of “maltreatment” on the part of authorities and pointed in particular the denial of family or lawyer visits for what had then been a span of 15 months.

Ibrahim’s lawyers have filed two complaints to the public prosecutor regarding the Prisons Authority’s refusal to allow him visits by both his family and legal council, but no investigation was opened into either report, Genady said.

Aida Seif al-Dawla, a psychiatrist who co-founded the Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, also told Mada Masr that Ibrahim’s previous suicide attempt and his recent refusal to leave prison to attend his mother’s burial indicates a dangerous level of depression. “In principle, any suicide attempt necessitates transferring the person to a psychiatric facility. The current situation represents a life-threatening danger to Oxygen,” she said.

In addition to being denied any visitation rights for nearly two years, Ibrahim is being detained in harsh conditions in the Maximum Security Wing 2 of the Tora Prison Complex, where prisoners sleep on the floor and the windows are left open in the extreme cold, according to Genady.

Ibrahim’s deteriorating psychological condition may have also been reflected in his decision to remain silent during a number of interrogation sessions, according to Genady. “It’s true that remaining silent is his legal and constitutional right, but it also indicates a level of despair,” he said.

Ibrahim has been in prison since September 2019, when he was detained amid the largest arrest sweep of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s time in office. He was held in remand detention on charges of “membership in a banned group, spreading false news and misusing social media.” In November 2020, Ibrahim was ordered released by a criminal court, but the Public Prosecution detained him on charges in another case one week later, a practice known as “rotation.”

In December 2021, he was sentenced to four years in prison on false news charges by an emergency state security misdemeanors court. Lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer was also sentenced to four years in the same case, while the writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah was sentenced to five years, but it remains unclear if the sentences have been ratified. 

Ibrahim was also held in remand for more than a year between April 2018 and June 2019. He was arrested in 2018 after reporting on government opposition figures and irregularities in Egypt’s 2018 presidential election on his blog, as the Committee to Protect Journalists documented at the time.

Ibrahim is known as “Oxygen” in reference to the name of both his blog and YouTube channel, Oxygen Egypt, where he regularly documented abuses and torture in prisons, forced disappearances and corruption.