Morsi aides transferred to Tora Prison

Former presidential aides Essam al-Haddad and Ayman Ali have been transferred to Tora Prison, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported on Saturday.

Haddad and Ali were held in an undisclosed location before being transferred to Tora Prison under strict security measures.

The transfer took place only days after the London-based human rights group Amnesty International issued a report holding Egypt responsible for what it called the forced disappearance of both Haddad and Ali.

The statement, published on December 19, condemned the Egyptian authorities for not granting ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s aides the right to legal representation, as well as denying them the right to communicate with their families.

The aides were arrested following Morsi’s ouster on July 3 by a military intervention following popular protests calling for his resignation. They were arrested alongside a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

A security source told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper that Haddad and Ali were arrested in a flat in Heliopolis after months of investigations into their whereabouts. According to these investigations, both aides moved between flats following the dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins demanding Morsi’s reinstatement.

The newspaper, however, did not reference the location where both aides were initially incarcerated.

Haddad focused on the foreign affairs portfolio during Morsi’s short-lived rule, while Ali was responsible for expatriate issues.