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Crackdown on Egypt’s front-line health care workers continues

Egyptian doctors are outraged by authorities’ handling of medical personnel after a number of doctors were arrested and others were criticized.
A picture taken by a doctor at the Sheikh Zayed hospital in the Egyptian capital Cairo on April 29, 2020, shows members of a medical staff, wearing protective gear, intubating a patient in the isolated ward for the coronavirus (COVID-19) patients. - The virus has so far infected over 8,000 people and claimed 514 lives in Egypt, according to official figures. (Photo by YAHYA DIWER / AFP) (Photo by YAHYA DIWER/AFP via Getty Images)

CAIRO — In what was described by rights advocates as part of a crackdown against Egypt’s medical staff, a doctor in northern Egypt has been remanded in custody for 15 days as of June 27 by the state security prosecution pending further investigation into the charges of misusing social media, spreading false news and being involved in a terrorist organization.

Mohamed Moataz El-Fawal, a university lecturer of radiology and board member of the Sharqiya province syndicate branch, was arrested one day after he voiced his views online about Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly’s recent remarks on Egypt’s medical personnel.

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