Ramadan has been a heart-wrenching time for the Bassiouni family, as they grapple with the reality of their beloved father and ustaadh spending the most sacred month of the year inside prison. Shaykh Abdus Salaam Bassiouni, an Egyptian-South African citizen, was arrested in December last year on suspicion that he is a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Shaykh Bassiouni’s son, Bilal, says his mother and brother had met with his father a week ago in the Tora prison where the scholar is being held. The prison is an Egyptian prison complex for criminal and political detainees. However, this time, news of his father’s condition came during Ramadan, what is traditionally a bonding time for the family.

“My father lives in a three by three room which he shares with nine other inmates. The heat and claustrophobic nature of the jail is really getting to my father at the moment. Also, it is Ramadan now which makes it extremely difficult to bare these conditions. The prison for iftar is appalling as well,” Bilal explained.

After seven months in custody, the Bassiouni family say they have been let down by the Department of International Relations and Co-operations (Dirco) who is struggling to negotiate his release. Bilaal said the department’s efforts in negotiating with Egypt “has not been up to standard”.

Dirco Spokesperson, Nelson Kgwete told VOC News that there are no new developments in their attempts to negotiate with Egyptian authorities for Bassiouni’s release. In light of this, the family will now be pursuing a claim against Egypt at the African Commission for Human Rights for the human rights violations against Bassiouni.

While the family are working under a sense of urgency, they have expressed a lack thereof on the part of Dirco. Bassiouni is in need of immediate surgery to his spine after a fall in the prison compound which left him in pain ever since.

“My father did not get any medical assistance since his spinal injury in December. He was able to finally get x-rays done which clearly showed he needs surgery as soon as possible. My father cannot live under these conditions any longer. My mother and brother are our only source of information at this point and their visits are also limited,” Bilal explained.

“When I do visit him it is just for 10 minutes. It’s been seven months and still there is nothing Dirco has to show for, even just to bring some relief to my father’s situation. He has a right to security from South Africa because he is a South African citizen and travelled on his SA passport.”

South Africans human rights campaigners have remained vocal on the matter. Organisations such as the Media Review Network (MRN) lead by a group called Friends for Bassiouni are lobbying local authorities for his release. For the second time since his arrest in Egypt, a mass protest action will be held outside of the Egyptian Embassy in Pretoria on Thursday, 2nd July 2015 to apply pressure on the South African government to swiftly work towards the release of the honourable scholar. VOC (Ra’eesah Isaacs)