Filmmaker succumbed to hand sanitiser – prosecutor

The Egyptian authorities have said alcohol poisoning caused the death in detention of filmmaker Shady Habash who was charged with making a music video mocking President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The writer of the song, Galal el-Behairy, was also arrested and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Habash was held in a maximum-security facility in Cairo for two years without facing trial. BBC News reports that the Public Prosecutor’s office said the filmmaker drank alchohol-based hand sanitiser which was given to inmates to reduce the spread of Covid-19. ‘The physician gave him antiseptic and antispasmodic drugs and had him return to his cell to stabilise his condition,’ the statement added.

Full BBC News report