Egypt extends pretrial detention of Qaradawi’s daughter for 14th time

An Egyptian court had extended the detention of the daughter of prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and her husband for 45 more days, bringing the period they have spent in pretrial detention to 630 days.

This is the 14th time Ola Qaradawi and her husband Hossam Khalaf have had their detention extended.

The couple is accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt banned and designated as a terrorist organisation following the 2013 military coup. They deny the charges.

Qaradawi’s family issued a statement calling for Ola to be admitting to a hospital and provided medical care, and for the couple’s immediate release.

Yusuf Qaradawi’s granddaughter: ‘It never crossed our mind they would detain my mother because of my grandfather’

Following a military coup that led to the removal of Mohamed Morsi from power in July 2013, Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood, designated the group as a terrorist organisation, and launched an unprecedented crackdown on its members, supporters and sympathisers. The group has repeatedly denied involvement in terror or violence. Since the bloody coup, Egypt has thrown tens of thousands of pro-democracy activists in jail.

Amnesty International has described the situation in Egypt as the worst human rights crisis in the country in decades, with the state systematically using arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances to silence any dissent and create an atmosphere of fear.