MIDDLEEAST TYCOON NEWS DESK: Dr. Abdelbaset Abdallah Mohamed al-Imam, a 62-year-old Turkish-Egyptian dual citizen facing a life sentence in Egypt over political activities, was detained upon arriving in Morocco on November 3. Moroccan security officials held and questioned Imam at Casablanca airport, where he had traveled with his family. According to family members, Imam had long faced threats from Egyptian authorities after the 2013 Rabaa Square protests, where nearly 1,000 Egyptians were killed in what Human Rights Watch labeled Egypt’s most severe modern mass killing.
Imam, who received Turkish citizenship in 2017, fled Egypt in 2014 amid escalating crackdowns on dissent, including forced disappearances of five family members. Sentenced to life in prison in absentia for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and online activism, he found temporary refuge abroad, traveling without issues until this recent detention.
Upon landing in Morocco, authorities reportedly questioned Imam about his family members and searched their backgrounds. Fearing torture upon deportation to Egypt, Imam’s family noted his health issues, particularly high blood pressure, which could worsen in detention. After initially receiving a message from Imam that read “pray for me,” his family lost contact for 14 hours, later receiving a brief call confirming his transfer to a Casablanca police station to await a court hearing on his deportation.
