Human rights lawyer Malek Adly saw his detention renewed on Sunday for another 15 days pending further investigations on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime.
Adly's defence team issued a statement announcing they had withdrawn from the Sunday session after failing to secure their earlier demand, presented on 18 July, that a new judge be appointed to the case due to “grave violations” of Adly's rights by prosecutors.
According to the defence team, prosecution violations include "refusing to recognise Adly as a victim" of bad treatment in jail after being kept in solitary confinement since his arrest in an unequipped cell and denied a visit from his defence team.
Adly's wife, Asmaa Ali, had released several statements about the poor conditions her husband is being subject to, including being kept in solitary confinement and not being allowed to leave his unlit, unventilated prison cell.
His health is deteriorating because his family have not been allowed to provide him with a bed or a mattress, and he has to sleep on the ground, Ali said.
The well-known lawyer was arrested in May in relation to his opposition to the government's April decision to recognise two Egyptian-administered Red Sea islands as belonging to Saudi Arabia.
Adly is one of a group of lawyers and citizens who had filed a court case in April against the Egyptian-Saudi island deal.
Hundreds were arrested during and after protests objecting to the government's decision. Most have since been acquitted or released on bail or fined.
