Senior Muslim Brotherhood figure dies in prison

A senior leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Essam el-Erian has died. El Erian died at a prison hospital in Cairo on Thursday after suffering a heart attack.

The 66 year old had served as deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and was swept up in a crackdown on the movement's leadership after it was forced from power in 2013.

He had been detained in Cairo's Tora prison along with other senior Brotherhood figures, and had been tried and sentenced in multiple cases linked to the turmoil that followed Egypt's 2011 uprising.

In June 2019 the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, who was elected president in 2012 and deposed the following year died after collapsing during a court appearance at the Tora prison complex.

Egyptian authorities have denied mistreating prisoners or neglecting their health.