An Oakville man has been detained in Egypt and transferred to a notoriously ruthless prison. His family is calling on the Prime Minister to request his immediate release.
“There’s absolutely nothing that he has done wrong. This has to be a huge misunderstanding.” Amal Ahmed Albar, Yasser’s daughter.
51 year old Yasser Ahmed Albaz was in Egypt on a 2 month business trip. Amal says all was fine until he went to leave the country a week ago.
“As soon as he went to the airport his passport was confiscated and he wasn’t allowed to fly.”
Now the Aakville family, who immigrated from Egpyt two decades ago, has been thrown into an unthinkable situation.
“An officer told him his name was flagged by the system and that was it. Maybe there was a similarity in names?”
He’s been questioned but has yet to be charged. He is now being held in the notorious Tora prison known to torture those inside.
“After the questioning they took him to the prison and no one has spoken to him since.”
Amal says over 2 000 letters of support have been sent to MP’s, foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
If Albaz did nothing wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time a Canadian was detained unlawfully in Egypt. John Greyson and Dr. Tarek Loubani were arrested, beaten and spent seven weeks inside the Tora prison in Cairo. After diplomatic and public pressure the men were finally released.
Loubani took to social media saying, John Greyson and I were beaten and tortured in Egypt. Canadian Yasser Albaz is currently experiencing the same, and I pray he is not killed in the process. Canada must act swiftly and forcefully to bring him back.
Albaz is expected to be questioned again by authorities in Egypt Tuesday.
The post Oakville man held in Egypt appeared first on CHCH.