BENGHAZI, Libya — Repeated electrical shock torture of an Egyptian Christian accused of “proselytizing” in Libya likely exacerbated his heart ailment, leading to his death in custody, according to sources close to the deceased.
Ezzat Hakim Atallah died March 10 in a Tripoli jail while in the custody of an Islamic militia group known as the Preventative Security Unit. He was 45.
Atallah was arrested in Benghazi on Feb. 13 as Preventative Security was rounding up expatriate Christians and accusing them of spreading Christianity to Muslims. Preventative Security is an internal police force formed during the Libyan Revolution by regional rebel leaders.
In Washington, advocacy group Coptic Solidarity planned a demonstration in front of the Libyan embassy March 14.
The group calls for release of all Egyptians charged with “proselytizing” in Libya and an investigation into Atallah’s death, and it “condemns in the strongest terms the Egyptian authorities, especially the foreign minister, the ambassador in Libya and the consul in Benghazi, for their failure to defend their fellow citizens.”
Atallah leaves behind a wife and two children.
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