Dr. Mohamed Beltagy, leading member of both the Freedom and Justice Party and the Anti-Coup Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance, refused instructions by a prison preacher sent over by the putschists to convince him of stopping a hunger strike he began nine days ago in protest against ill-treatment in prison.

In a post on his webpage in Facebook, Dr. Beltagy said: "Aqrab (Scorpion) Prison administration brought in a preacher to convince me to back down on my hunger strike decision.

"I asked the putschists’ preacher: 'What does Islam say about preventing a political detainee, or any Muslim for that matter, from performing the Friday prayers, holding him hostage in these inhuman conditions?' He replied: 'Unlawful, unacceptable, of course'. I said: 'Then, tell them to stop this injustice before you tell me to stop my hunger strike'."