Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that there is no official objection to the medical pardon of 22-year-old Ahmed el-Khatib, or his transfer to a private hospital due to his deteriorating medical condition, in response to ongoing family requests. “There is no objection in meeting el-Khatib family’s requests for his treatment at a private hospital at their own expenses, or into taking the necessary legal procedures for his medical release,” Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar said in a statement. The Interior Ministry statement said an insect that is not found in Egypt, but is existent in Iraq and Syria, caused el-Khatib’s illness. The online campaign went viral on Facebook and trended on Twitter by mid-March; an online petition calling for el-Khatib’s medical release later followed it. “When the committee was first formed, we recommended 529 people for pardon, and el-Khatib was number 292 on this list.

Source: Egypt Independent March 29, 2017 12:33 UTC