Autopsy report of economist Ayman Hadhoud rules out foul play: prosecution

Egypt's public prosecution announced Monday evening that it concluded its investigation into the death of economic researcher Ayman Hadhoud and has ruled out any foul play after an autopsy stated he had died from a heart attack. 

The prosecution's office posted a statement on its official Facebook page which said that the forensic medical authority found no injuries on Hadhoud's body that may indicate assault, violence, resistance, or other suspicious actions.

Neither any traces of drugs nor poisonous substances were found in the deceased's blood, the statement added.

According to the prosecution, Ayman Hadhoud's brother, Omar Hadhoud, testified the deceased economist had previously experienced two psychiatric episodes like the one he had reportedly been going through as he allegedly attempted to forcibly enter a woman's flat in Cairo when he was arrested and then admitted to a mental hospital.

Hadhoud, who was a member of the liberal Reform and Development Party and an economic policy adviser to the party's founder Mohamed Sadat, the nephew of former president Anwar Sadat, went missing on 5 February. 

His family were informed in April that he had died in March while in the Abassiya mental hospital. 

Human rights groups suspected he was subjected to enforced disappearance and was tortured, a systematic occurrence in Egypt against dissidents, especially during the current reign of president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Last week, a security source had claimed to The New Arab that the official narrative regarding Hadhoud's disappearance and death were untrue.