{{Short description|Prison in Egypt}} {{infobox prison}} '''Wadi el-Natrun Prison''' ({{langx|ar|سجن وادي النطرون}}) is an Egyptian prison complex located on the outskirts of the Wadi El Natrun depression , near the Cairo-Alexandria Desert road, in the Beheira Governorate, north of Cairo. It consists of two separate facilities 5 kilometers apart.<ref name=Mohsen>Ali Abdel Mohsen, [https://www.egyptindependent.com/news/local-recounts-prisoners-tales-forced-escape-wadi-al-natroun Local recounts prisoners' tales of forced escape from Wadi al-Natroun], 3 March 2011</ref> It was established in September 1994. After its establishment, inmates from Abu Zaabal and Tora Prison begin to be transferred to it.<ref>[https://www.anhri.info/?p=19437&lang=en 5- Wadi al-Natrun Prison Complex Know Your Prison], 13 October 2020</ref>
==2011 prison break== The prison was used to incarcerate Islamists and other political prisoners under the regime of Hosni Mubarak and after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, several prominent Muslim Brotherhood activists were imprisoned there. On 30 January 2011, thousands of prisoners were helped to escape from the prison. A June 2013 court concluded that Hamas and Hezbollah worked with the Muslim Brotherhood to orchestrate the jailbreak,<ref name=ElTablawyWardany>Tarek El-Tablawy & Salma El Wardany, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-23/egyptian-court-says-foreign-groups-involved-in-2011-jailbreaks.html Egyptian Court Says Foreign Groups Involved in 2011 Jailbreaks], 23 June 2013</ref> though some prisoners have suggested that those responsible for freeing them were in fact police officers acting under Interior Ministry orders.<ref name=Mohsen/> 34 Brotherhood activists, including the future president Mohamed Morsi and Saad El-Katatni, were among those who escaped from the prison.<ref name=ElTablawyWardany/> After the coup against Morsi in July 2013, Morsi faced trial for his role in the prison break. He and 105 others were sentenced to death on 16 May 2015.<ref name="thecairopost">{{cite news|url=http://www.thecairopost.com/news/150838/news/update-morsi-sentenced-to-death-in-wadi-al-natroun-jailbreak-case|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517145848/http://www.thecairopost.com/news/150838/news/update-morsi-sentenced-to-death-in-wadi-al-natroun-jailbreak-case|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 17, 2015|agency=The Cairo Post|title=Update: Morsi, Badie sentenced to death in "prison break case"|date=16 May 2015|accessdate=16 May 2015}}</ref> The court of cassation in November 2016 overturned the death sentence on Morsi and five other Muslim Brotherhood members and then ordered a retrial for the similar charges.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37985498 |title=Mohammed Morsi death sentence overturned |date=15 November 2016 |website=BBC |accessdate=16 November 2016 }}</ref>
In May 2022, British-Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd El Fattah was transferred to Wadi Al-Natroun Prison, where he has access to reading material, television, and written correspondence <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/09/egypt-ensure-alaa-abdel-fattah-is-not-detained-after-completing-length-of-unjust-prison-term/ |title=Egypt: Ensure Alaa Abdel Fattah is not detained after completing length of unjust prison term |date=26 September 2024 |accessdate=22 October 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Prisons in Egypt Category:Beheira Governorate Category:Prison escapes in Africa Category:2011 in Egypt Category:1994 establishments in Egypt Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1994 Category:Prisons completed in the 1990s
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