The family of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said Monday they plan to file a lawsuit against the Egyptian Army, charging officials with kidnapping the Muslim Brotherhood-backed former leader.
Morsi has been held incommunicado by military officials since being removed from office on July 3, when the country’s Constitution, written by a committee comprised solely of Islamists, was also suspended.
The coup d’etat came in the wake of weeks of grassroots protests that culminated in a petition demanding Morsi’s resignation, submitted on the first anniversary of his election as president, and signed by 22 million Egyptian citizens.
According to Egyptian military officials, Morsi is being held at an undisclosed location for his own safety, but even members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been unable to gain access to visit him and assess his current condition, in violation of the Geneva Convention.
Morsi’s daughter Shaima’a told a news conference Monday in Cairo that formal charges have yet to be filed against her father, and that the military is being held responsible for the former president’s “safety and security.”
She told journalists the family is appealing to the International Criminal Court over the issue, adding, “We are taking local and international legal measures against Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group.
Osama Morsi, a son, said, “What is going on is a violation of human rights and a scandal in every sense of the word.” Attorney and supporter Mohammed al-Damati agreed it was a breach of the former president’s human rights to hold him without charge.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which has refused to recognize the new government, has also refused to participate in the wide-ranging new council despite offers of positions in the interim cabinet.
The Islamist party has led continued street protests on a daily basis, and followers were recently exhorted in a Twitter post to “prepare for the second Battle of Badr” on the anniversary of a major early Islamic war on the 17th day of Ramadan, which this year falls on July 26.
