The Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist Tawakkol Karman offered condolences on the death of the Egyptian politician and deputy head of the Freedom and Justice Party, Dr. Essam El-Erian, who died in Scorpion Prison as a result of deliberate medical negligence.

Tawakkol Karman, on her official Facebook page, described Dr. el-Erian as among “the most prominent strugglers for democracy and anti-authoritarianism in Egypt and the Arab region."

“My sincere condolences to Dr. Essam Al-Erian's family, friends and loved ones,” Ms. Karman expressed. 

According to Reuters, Al-Arian died in Tora prison in Cairo on Thursday after suffering a heart attack.

El-Erian, 66, served as vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was among the Islamic group’s leaders Egyptian authorities arrested as part of a severe crackdown on it following its ouster from power in 2013.

Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the circumstances of Al-Arian's death, the conditions of his detention and the extent of the medical care he received.