Photojournalist missing since Friday said he was being taken to Matariya police station
Photojournalist Omar Adel has been missing since Friday, when he contacted his brother to say that he was being arrested and taken to Matariya police station, Daily News Egypt reported on Sunday. Police have denied he was being held at the station and gave no further information on his whereabouts. The Journalists Against Torture Observatory filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office and Interior Ministry. Egyptian law requires detainees to be brought before a prosecutor within 24 hours of their arrest. Fourteen detainees have reportedly died while in custody at Matariya police station over the past two years, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
CORRECTION- In our story in yesterday’s issue on accusations that frozen strawberries exported from Egypt were responsible for an outbreak of hepatitis A in Virginia that has so far resulted in 28 cases as of Thursday, we repeated Food Safety News’ erroneous claim that Egypt exports 40 mn tonnes of strawberries per year. According to the most recently available data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Egypt produced 422k tonnes of strawberries in 2013. We regret the error. H/t Mohamed M.