Hundreds of prisoners at Tora Reception prison in Cairo have been protesting since Friday due to grave mistreatment in the past two weeks, according to two sources who spoke to Mada Masr, one of whom is a human rights lawyer who has been following the events.

The Egyptian author Amin el-Mahdy died on Sunday, soon after his release from a brief detention, sources close to his family have told Middle East Eye.

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior has refused to hand over the body of one of the political prisoners executed over the weekend, allegedly because he was of unknown parentage.

Human rights advocates have cast doubt over an Interior Ministry statement announcing the death of four inmates and three police officers at a prison in Egypt whilst attempting to escape.

Egyptian activist Ahmed Abdrabbu died inside Egypt’s notorious Tora Prison on Wednesday, as a result of “deliberate medical negligence”, a rights group has said.

Security forces have deployed in Tahrir Square and in areas around downtown Cairo in recent days, with armored trucks stationed in the streets and police randomly stopping and searching passersby.

Egypt’s Public Prosecution has imprisoned four non-commissioned police officers on Saturday over beating to death a man called “Islam the Australian”, held in custody at Giza’s al-Munib Police Station.

Amr Abu Khalil, a 58-year-old psychiatrist, died in his prison cell in the Maximum Security 2 wing of the Tora Prison complex less than a year after his arrest, according to his brother Haitham Abu Khalil.

The suspicious death of an activist at a Cairo prison Aug. 17 has cast doubt on the actual causes of death of other political prisoners and pre-trial detainees.

The risks are all the more pronounced during the current pandemic, they said in a news release on Monday, calling on the authorities to facilitate the release of prisoners with pre-existing medical conditions or those detained without sufficient legal basis.