Prominent Egyptian dissident 'tortured' in jail: Amnesty

Amnesty International on Thursday accused Egyptian authorities of torturing detained activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, denouncing what it described as the use of "extreme brutality" to crush dissent.

"The torture in custody of Alaa Abdel Fattah... as well as the mistreatment of his lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, are chilling illustrations of the ruthless tactics the Egyptian authorities are prepared to use to silence critics," Amnesty said in a statement.

Abdel Fattah, 37, an iconic figure of the Arab Spring uprising that unseated longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was detained at the end of September, his family and a judicial official said.

His lawyer Baqer was also later detained while attending an interrogation of the activist, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights said.

Following his arrest on September 29 Abdel Fattah was "transferred to Egypt's notorious Tora maximum prison 2... where prison officers blindfolded him, stripped him of his clothing, beat and kicked him ...