Tony and family
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, has accused the Egyptian authorities of breeching the human rights of a British citizen Tony Camoccio and his family arrested in the North African country recently.
According to her, the organisation she runs is extremely concerned about Tony’s safety, “as he is being detained in one of Egypt’s most notorious prisons. Briton Laura Plummer, who spent 13 months in the same facility, said “At one stage I thought, ‘I must be dead and this is hell’.”
Tony brought his family to Egypt for a holiday.
She said; ” Tony has faced bullying and harassment from guards in the prison who, because of the charge of sexual assault against him, have been hurling insults at him and using homophobic slurs. He has not yet reported suffering any physical violence, though it is unlikely he would reveal it to his family if he had; Tony has reported that he can hear the screams of fellow inmates nearby who are being beaten or tortured. The cells are overcrowded, without flushing toilets, in conditions former inmates describe as squalid and primitive. There is no heating, and for the first few nights of his incarceration Tony was even without a blanket in the freezing cold cell.
One former inmate reported about the conditions, “It’s normal to be cursed, stripped naked, beaten with a bar, or put in solitary confinement or the “tank” (a pitch-black 3.5m x 5.5m cell). They might also torture another prisoner in front of you’.
“The whole experience is so utterly distressing that when Tony was taken to court for the initial hearing, he was shaking too severely from trauma to even speak.
“When the incident occurred, Tony himself demanded that the CCTV footage be reviewed to exonerate him of the allegation; he simply patted the airport security guard on the back in a friendly gesture after passing through the mandatory pat down. The view from the camera, however, was blocked by other people in the queue, so it proved inconclusive. But the mere fact that Tony was certain that the footage would clear up the misunderstanding is itself sufficient to prove that the charges are false.
She said her organisation is in touch with Tony’s MP, Paul Scully, who has been in communication with the family, and urge the FCO to intervene with all urgency to ensure that Tony will be released as soon as possible.
“According to Egyptian law, he should have been released after four days, but we understand his detention has been extended pending an investigation. It was suggested to the family that Tony could simply apologise to the security guard who brought the charges, but no meeting has been arranged to make that happen. The family is meeting tomorrow with the prosecuting judge, and we hope that the Egyptian authorities realise that this case is entirely without merit, and that all of Great Britain and the international media are watching.”
