Cairo: Egypt’s well-known rights defender Hafez Abu Seda has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, local media reported Friday. He was 55.
Abu Seda was the head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights and a member of the state-backed National Council for Human Rights. He was transferred to a hospital in Cairo after he had tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago.
His wife, well-known lawyer Nehad Abul Komsan, confirmed his death. “Hafez Abu Seda, the love of my life, the father of my children and the greatest man I’ve ever seen has answered his Lord’s call,” she wrote on his Facebook.
'Dedicated symbols'
A funeral prayer will be performed for him on Friday before his burial in a cemetery outside Cairo, she added.
The National Council for Human Rights paid homage to Abu Seda. “With his departure, Egypt has lost one of the distinguished patriotic rights defenders,” the council said. “The council has lost one of its pillars and dedicated symbols,” the watchdog added in a statement.
Abu Seda had been a member of the council since its foundation in 2002.
