News About Alaa

 

For instant updates from what is a rapidly developing story please check #FreeAlaa and @FreedomforAlaa

  • International Counsel acting for Alaa Abd el-Fattah and his family have today filed a petition requesting urgent action from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention over his continuing and unjust imprisonment in Egypt. >>>>

  • MEPs Hannah Neumann and MEP Jan-Christoph Oetjen referred to Alaa in a debate at the European Parliament, with Neumann referring to him as the “prominent face of the Arab Spring”

  • TORONTO, September 19, 2023 — Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a leading pro-democracy writer imprisoned in Egypt, has won PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award.

    The award will be presented at a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The ceremony, titled “Raising our Voices: PEN Canada Awards & Readings in Solidarity with Persecuted Writers”, will be hosted by Garvia Bailey and takes place as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA). Mr. Abd el-Fattah, who is currently serving a five-year sentence in Wadi al-Natroun prison, will have Sanaa Seif his sister receive it on his behalf. The event is open to the public. >>>>

  • 26 July: PEN International and English PEN denounce the persistent failure to secure the release of British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah by the British government and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, despite their pledge in 2022 to work ‘hard to secure his release’. The UK’s inability to secure Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s release for over eight months after Sunak's meeting with the Egyptian President in Sharm el-Sheikh is profoundly disappointing.

    Despite the family’s relentless campaigning for his right to consular access, the UK government has failed to secure consular visits for Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an arbitrarily detained British writer who faced an unfair trial, and was tortured and ill-treated in prison. We repeat our call on the UK Government to uphold its pledge and take all necessary actions to end Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s ordeal and ensure his freedom. >>>>

  • Over 100 UK Parliamentarians from all major political parties have written to the Foreign Secretary Rt. Hon James Cleverly MP on 3 July 2023, laying out practical steps Foreign Office can take to help free imprisoned British-Egyptian writer, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, including for the UK "to take the lead on a joint statement on Egypt at the UN Human Rights Council, and to update the UK’s travel advice for the country" stating that "British leadership is necessary and critical".

    On 3 August 2023, a response was received from Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa. The letter can be read in full below. Caabu will continue to press the British government to give greater priority to this case and demand that Ala'a Abd el Fattah is released

  • Alaa’s sister, Sanaa, speaks powerfully about her brother and the international campaign for his release at the 2023 Freedom Forum: LINK

  • At its meeting on 14.06.2023, the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid adopted a joint statement by its members through the parliamentary groups of SPD, CDU/CSU, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP on the situation of human rights in Egypt. The LINKE abstained and the AfD voted against the declaration. The statement reads as follows: LINK

  • Lord Ahmad visits Egypt. Alaa’s family wait for good news, or for at least a consular visit to have been secured.

  • A powerful new piece in the LA Review of Books reflects on Alaa gaining access to music after his hunger strike: LINK.

  • Watch the video here.

  • The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony on the Foreign Office’s approach to state level hostage situations.

    With the help of Fair Square Projects we submitted written evidence, which you can read here https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/117411/html/

  • "The pledges made during COP27 by world leaders are - I think - what kept Alaa from returning to hunger strike, after he nearly died."

    But 4 months on and nothing has happened.

    Family press release: https://tinyurl.com/2ekbkrhl

  • Activists in Glasgow organise a solidarity event to build up the network of people working to free political prisoners in Egypt: LINK

  • Lord Ahmad’s tweet

  • Lord Ahmad tweeted: “Yesterday @JamesCleverly & I met with Laila Soueif and @Monasosh to discuss the ongoing detention of their son and brother @Alaa. His welfare and release remains a priority for the UK Government. We will continue to call on the Egyptian authorities for as long as it is necessary.”

  • At Foreign Office Questions, Vicky Foxcroft - Alaa’s cousin’s MP - asked “Will the Foreign Secretary commit to meeting with Alaa’s family to discuss at greater length what the UK Government is doing to place diplomatic pressure on Egypt?"

  • Please read here the family statement detailing what Alaa has been going through inside and how close to death he came while world leaders were in Egypt for COP27 >>>>

  • In a dramatic and historic week, world leaders flew in to Sharm el-Sheikh and repeatedly called for Alaa’s freedom. These included Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

    Meanwhile, Alaa’s family lost contact with him after he began his water strike.

    The dramatic events of the week were recorded and published via a rolling press release, which you can still read here: https://tinyurl.com/27pwupd2

  • A rolling press release was maintained and updated through the very tumultuous period of COP27 in Egypt. You can read it here >>>>

  • After seven months on hunger strike, surviving for over 150 days on 100 calories a day, and with no progress being made on his case, and no consular access granted to the British government, Alaa today returns to a zero calorie strike.

    He tells his mother he will stop drinking water on the first day of COP27, November 6th.

    He writes to his mother:

    ”You know the story, but it’s important that I tell it again. This journey, I’ve walked it while mostly looking behind me, because I could see nothing in front of me except extinction .. the abyss. Gradually, with each step, each delay, something reached me .. from a visit, from a letter, from a book, an image, from the book, from news of the campaign and news of Khaled. Things changed and I started looking towards the future, a future for us as a family.

    If one wished for death then a hunger strike would not be a struggle. If one were only holding onto life out of instinct then what’s the point of a struggle? If you’re postponing death only out of shame at your mother’s tears then you’re decreasing the chances of victory ..

    Today is the last day that I will take a hot drink, or rather, since I’ll count the days from when the lights come on at 10am - tomorrow, Tuesday, just before the lights come on, I will drink my last cup of tea in prison. And after 5 days, when the lights come on on Sunday November 6, I shall drink my last glass of water. What will follows is unknown.

    This week passed lightly and the next will pass lightly too. I’ve carried on with my routine as normal because I’ve taken a decision to escalate at a time I see as fitting for my struggle for my freedom and the freedom of prisoners of a conflict they’ve no part in, or they’re trying to exit from; for the victims of of a regime that’s unable to handle its crises except with oppression, unable to reproduce itself except through incarceration.

    The decision was taken while I am flooded with your love and longing for your company.

    Much love and till we meet soon ..

    Alaa”

  • In light of the new government taking office, Greenpeace UK’s new executive directors, Areeba Hamid and Will McCallum, have issued the following statement about the urgent case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a dual British-Egyptian citizen currently on hunger strike in an Egyptian jail:

    “Greenpeace UK is calling for Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s safe release and return to the UK to be prioritised across all UK diplomatic channels.

    “We know the UK government has spoken about this case. Alaa’s case was raised twice by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Liz Truss, as Foreign Secretary, told Parliament she was “working very hard for his release.” The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa said the government was “urgently seeking consular access”. That was on May 30th.

    “Now Alaa’s life is at serious risk. He is out of hope and has been on hunger strike since 2nd April 2022. Since 26th May, he has been consuming 100 calories a day – a teaspoon of honey and a bit of milk is all that’s been keeping him alive.

    “It is vital that the UK goes beyond lip service and uses its significant leverage to release Alaa and other prisoners, or else risk tacitly endorsing this pattern.

    “This is especially the case now. COP27, just a few days away, will be a moment of intense public scrutiny on Egypt. We understand that the UK government has lent significant support to their Egyptian counterparts to deliver a complex logistical operation and to secure the legacy of the Glasgow climate. We ask that you also ensure that the UK prioritises securing the release of political prisoners, not least its own citizens such as Alaa.

    “This is a crucial summit in which we urge the UK to play a leading role on the issue of climate finance, which at present is vastly insufficient. But the UK government must also recognise the dire situation of Egypt’s human rights. You cannot have climate justice without social justice. We have also written privately to the UK government on this issue.”

    LINK

  • “Politicians have written to the foreign secretary urging him to limit the UK's engagement with the upcoming COP27 climate summit in Egypt until its government frees a pro-democracy activist.

    British-Egyptian Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been in prison for almost a decade and was sentenced to five years last December after being accused of spreading false news.

    Egypt continues to deny consular access to him, and he has been on hunger strike for more than six months.

    Hollywood stars including Dame Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo and Carey Mulligan have joined the campaign for his release, along with British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who met his sister, Sanaa, as she holds a sit-in protest outside the Foreign Office in London to bring attention to her brother's plight.

    She said her brother was "losing hope that the British government intends to do anything to save him

    Now, 67 MPs and peers have written to James Cleverly, to "strongly encourage [the Foreign Secretary] to make clear to your Egyptian counterparts that Britain's engagement with COP27 will be seriously undermined by the continued mistreatment of one of its citizens".

    In the letter, signed by politicians on all sides, they call for "urgency", writing: "Alaa's life is at serious risk. He is out of hope and has been on hunger strike since 2 April 2022.

    "Since 26 May, he has been consuming 100 calories a day - a teaspoon of honey and a bit of milk is all that has been keeping him alive.

    Today he is on day 189 of his strike. He may not live for much longer."

    The signatories say COP27, due to start in Egypt on 6 November, "will be a moment of intense public scrutiny" for Egypt, and they urge Mr Cleverly to use the opportunity to secure Abd el-Fattah's freedom.

    Sky News has contacted the Foreign Office for a response.”

    READ ON SKY NEWS

  • PRESS RELEASE

    Today the family of imprisoned writer, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, will begin an open-ended sit-in outside the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development office in London [here].

    Alaa, a British citizen, has been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the nine years since president Abdelfattah el-Sisi came to a power in a military coup.

    On Tuesday October 18th Alaa will reach his 200th day on hunger strike, surviving on only 100 calories a day, protesting the Egyptian authorities' refusal of consular access for British officials.

    British officials have been requesting to visit Alaa since December 2021. His case was raised twice by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while Liz Truss, as Foreign Secretary, told Parliament she was “working very hard for his release.” James Cleverly, the new Foreign Secretary, wrote that he was “urgently seeking consular access” on May 30th.

    But consular access has never been granted.

    David Lammy, Alaa's sisters' MP, said: “For months, Alaa’s family have courageously fought his cause and it is a sign of their desperation and the chronic lack of progress that Sanaa has had to take this step. Alaa is a British citizen at death’s door, languishing in prison for his political beliefs. As the eyes of the world turn to Egypt as host of COP27, this grave situation requires the Foreign Secretary’s urgent intervention. It is now imperative that he meet with Alaa’s family and explain the steps he is taking to ensure Alaa’s welfare and secure his release.”

    David Lammy will visit the sit-in at 5pm.

    Alaa's sister, Sanaa Seif, said "We are running out of time to save my brother's life. After months of being told that his case is being raised by officials I feel I have no options left other than to stay in front of the Foreign Office until the government takes serious action. In ten months the British government has failed to even gain consular access for my brother. On the inside, Alaa is doing everything he can, he’s been on partial hunger strike for 200 days trying to get his consular visit - he's pushed himself to the brink of death, and we need an urgency and a determination from the British government to match his. Why are they not asserting their right to visit him? Why are they not demanding his release? The thought that my brother could be hospitalised before the British government takes serious action is unbearable - I can’t let that happen. These months of neglect have likely already caused irreparable long-term damage to his body. The UK has massive leverage with Egypt, particularly in the lead up to COP - why is it not using it? The government's requests are rebuffed one day, and it signs deals for billions in new investments in Egypt the next. We urgently need James Cleverly to cut through the chaos and finish the job that the government has been claiming for months that it is working on. Raising his case is clearly not enough - Alaa thinks that he's going to die in prison, he is not going to stop resisting with his body because he has nothing left. I feel I have no choice but to do everything in my power to make sure he is not alone, that we’re here doing everything we can to bring him home safe.”

    Other Notes

    Alaa is an Amnesty International Individual at Risk and Amnesty activists will be attending the sit-in at times in solidarity with the family.

    The Guardian yesterday published a profile of Sanaa, and today ran a Long Read by Naomi Klein on the moral crisis of Egypt's hosting of COP27.

    The investment deal Sanaa is referring to is the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed with Globaleq, a company 70% owned by British International Investment, which is the development finance institution of the government.

    Contact & Summary

    For media enquiries and to arrange an interview, please email freedomforalaa@gmail.com

    For links, media and a timeline please visit www.freealaa.net

    Photo Opportunity

    WHO: Sanaa Seif, David Lammy

    WHAT: protest and sit-in outside FCDO, with various banners calling for release of Alaa Abdel Fattah

    WHERE: FCDO building, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH

    WHEN: Tuesday 18 October (5pm-6pm), with sit-in to follow

  • “Today, ahead of the opening of its major new exhibition ‘Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt’, sponsored by the oil and gas company BP, the Museum is being urged to speak out in support of human rights in Egypt. A letter signed by leading cultural figures, climate organisations, workers’ groups and scientists, calls on the Museum to lend its voice to the international call for the release of prisoners of conscience before the COP27 Climate Summit taking place in Egypt in November. “ >>>>

  • “SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce that blogger, software developer, activist, and political prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah, abortion rights technology organization Digital Defense Fund, and iFixit CEO and co-founder Kyle Wiens will receive the 2022 EFF Awards for their vital work in helping to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people.

    The EFF Awards recognize specific and substantial technical, social, economic, or cultural contributions in diverse fields including journalism, art, digital access, legislation, tech development, and law.

    The awards will be presented at a live ceremony at 6 p.m. PT, Thursday, November 10 at The Regency Lodge, 1290 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco.”

    Read on >>>>

  • The votes are in and the people have spoken. From a list of 50 top thinkers we presented in the summer issue, our readers chose . . . >>>>

  • The first official statement from 10 Downing Street about Alaa has been released. In a standalone paragraph in a press release following a phone call between the leaders of Britain and Egypt, it wrote:

    “The Prime Minister and President Sisi discussed resolving the consular case of Alaa Abdel Fattah, and the Prime Minister expressed his hope for swift and positive progress on the issue.”

    We at the Free Alaa campaign find this to be firm and encouraging language, asserting that bilateral relations between the two countries cannot return to business as usual while Alaa remains in prison.

    You can read the full press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-call-with-president-abdel-fattah-al-sisi-of-egypt-25-august-2022

  • Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Political Prisoners Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09) released a letter calling for Secretary Blinken to prioritize “the swift release of Mr. Abd el-Fattah” >>>>

  • This is from our August 2nd newsletter update:

    “Today, Alaa is on his 122nd day of a hunger strike.

    Alaa’s mother Laila finally managed to see him on Sunday after a terrifying week of being denied visitation. Alaa is more fragile than he’s ever been and things at Wadi el-Natrun Prison complex are getting uglier.

    Alaa sounded desperate. He said his continued isolation is distorting his ability to think or to form a coherent picture of the outside world.

    It’s been three years of visits behind a glass barrier, of not being able to hug his mother. Alaa needs human contact. He needs a radio, newspapers. He needs a consular visit from the British embassy. More than anything, he needs to be free.” >>>>

  • 14 US lawmakers yesterday sent a letter to their British counterparts offering their support in their efforts to free Alaa - and flagging that “the current quiet diplomacy will not secure his freedom.”

    Read more >>>>

  • The leadership of over twenty key climate organisations, a selection of cross-party British MPs from the APPG on the Green New Deal, and key environmental thought leaders have today release a letter warning that:

    “If COP27 is to succeed, the visibility and positive pressure created by civic mobilisation will be vital - that must include full rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression around the conference, including for Egyptian civil society activists and journalists who are currently facing harsh repression for exercising these human rights.” >>>>

  • Powerful interview on NPR’s Morning Edition >>>>

  • “It’s an open question as to how much the United Nations’ annual climate conferences still matter—the young activist Greta Thunberg memorably summed up last year’s meeting, in Glasgow, as so much “blah blah blah.” But there’s at least one thing that this year’s session—scheduled for November, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt—should be able to accomplish right now, and that is to free Alaa Abd El-Fattah, one of the most prominent of the country’s reported thousands of political prisoners. In December, the former blogger and pro-democracy activist—who has been in and out of prison or detention for most of the past eleven years, starting before President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi came to power—was sentenced to five years for “undermining national security.” Since April 2nd, he has been on a hunger strike. If he survives but remains in prison, the authorities in Cairo should understand that demands for his release will dominate civil society throughout the two-week climate conference. If he dies, they should know that his name will be on many lips—and T-shirts, signs, and pamphlets.”

    Keep reading here

  • & here is the Senator’s tweet.

  • “On Monday, July 11 at 2:30 PM ET, dissidents from the Middle East and Members of Congress joined the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), Human Rights Watch, PEN America, the Freedom Initiative, Freedom House, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Win Without War, and Human Rights First for a briefing for media ahead of President Joe Biden’s July 15-16 visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with the leaders of the GCC+3.”

    Read more HERE.

  • “English PEN has appointed imprisoned writer and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah as an Honorary Member.

    Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian writer and activist, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Egypt. Today marks his 100th day on hunger strike. “

    Read on >>>>

  • On June 21st, the Foreign Secretary told parliament that she is “working very hard to secure the release” of Alaa.

    The British embassy in Cairo have been trying to secure consular access to Alaa since he acquired British citizenship in December 2021 – but have been stonewalled by the Egyptians. Consular access to citizens is a cornerstone of international law.

    On July 4th, the Foreign Secretary met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister in London, and the family were optimistic that things were about to improve for Alaa. But, the opposite has happened, no consular access has been granted, Truss herself has not mentioned the case again.

  • Sameh Shoukry, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, arrived in London for talks with the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss and was met with a letter signed by 34 MPs and Lords expressing their opposition to the imprisonment of Alaa and hoping that “his release will indeed be secured soon, and that he will be allowed to travel to the United Kingdom.”

    This comes after Truss confirmed to parliament on June 21st, that she “is working very hard to secure [Alaa’s] release” and would be bringing it up with Shoukry on an upcoming visit to London.

    Read the letter HERE.

  • Geneviève Garrigos, présidente de la 7e commission du Conseil de Paris, et huit autres élus du Conseil de Paris appellent, dans une tribune au « Monde », à la libération d’Alaa Abdel Fatah, militant des droits humains, emprisonné en Égypte et en grève de la faim depuis le 2 avril 2022. >>>>

  • Sanaa recently met with Green Party co-chair Omid Nouripour and Green Party MP Tobias Bacherle - who wrote a powerful statement outlining the credible steps needed to be taken by the Egyptian government, which concluded with a demand to release Alaa.

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  • Hollywood stars have pleaded with Liz Truss to intervene to help free a British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist as he marks the 74th day of his hunger strike.

    Dame Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo and Carey Mulligan are among the signatories of a letter directed at the Foreign Secretary and her US counterpart in aid of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

    Mr Abd el-Fattah, 40, has spent most of the past decade behind bars in Egypt and last December was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news.

    His sister, Sanaa Seif, and friend Khalid Abdalla, the actor who plays Dodi Fayed in The Crown, were among those to raise the case at a press conference in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday. >>>>

  • The sister of a British dual national human rights activist held in a Cairo jail and on the 74th day of a hunger strike, on Tuesday urged the UK foreign secretary to publicly demand that Alaa Abd El Fattah is saved from death by being released.

    Sanaa Seif was speaking at an event attended by Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the released British-Iranian dual national, and Gurpreet Singh, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal – a Sikh activist from Dunbarton detained by the Indian police nearly five years ago. >>>>

  • 18 May / Sky News

    18 May / BBC News

    24 May / BBC Radio 4 Today

    25 May / The New Statesman

    27 May / The Intercept

    29 May / The Sunday Times

    29 May / Channel 4 News

    5 June / The Observer

  • <READ ON SKY NEWS>

    A group of MPs and peers has written to the foreign secretary urging her to take action to help a British citizen being held in "inhumane" conditions as a political prisoner in Egypt.Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a dual British-Egyptian citizen, became a prominent pro-democracy activist during the Tahrir Square demonstrations in Cairo in 2011 which led to the downfall of then president Hosni Mubarak.

    He was recently sentenced to five years behind bars for sharing a Facebook post about human rights abuses in Egyptian prisons in 2019 and he has been on hunger strike since last month.He has spent eight of the last ten years in prison.

    A letter to Liz Truss signed by 10 MPs - including Labour's Ben Bradshaw, Tory David Jones and Liberal Democrat Layla Moran - and 17 members of the House of Lords - says he is being held in "inhumane" conditions.

    They say Mr Abd El-Fattah, father of a ten-year-old son, has been deprived for two-and-a-half years of reading materials, exercise, sunlight or bedding.

    At his trial, in a state security emergency court, the defence was not granted access to the case file and no appeal of the five-year sentence is possible, the letter said.

    It said the British embassy has been requesting consular access but this has not been granted.

    "If this situation continues, we are concerned a dangerous precedent will be set for British citizens overseas and the values we uphold," the MPs and peers said.

    "In turn his case must be dealt with robustly."

    The letter from MPs and peers called on the government to "use all means possible" to secure consular access for Mr Abd El-Fattah, insist on immediate improvements to his conditions and a transfer out of the maximum security prison.

    It also asks ministers to press for his release "either within Egypt or to the UK".

    Meanwhile shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said Mr Abd El-Fattah's treatment by the Egyptian authorities has become "increasingly cruel and degrading".

    "Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a British citizen and courageous voice for democracy in Egypt, has spent years in prison for the crime of sharing a Facebook post," he posted on social media."

    His treatment by the Egyptian authorities has become increasingly cruel and degrading."Mr Abd El-Fattah's family say his situation is deteriorating and the UK government needs to put more pressure on the Egyptian authorities to secure his release.

    Mona Seif, Mr Abd El-Fattah's sister recently told the Independent, after visiting him in prison: "He is worried that he is entering his second month of full hunger strike, a month where he will be in complete isolation."

    He told me that even if he resists, he cannot trust his body will not fail him.”

    He is also worried during this time that they will take advantage of the fact that he is in complete isolation and use extreme force with him, subject him to more torture."

    Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab British Understanding, said Liz Truss must act because Mr Abd El-Fattah's situation was now "critical".

    "It is vital that the British government does everything it can at the highest level to secure the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. After seven weeks of hunger strike his condition is critical and pressing."

    The Egyptian authorities have the opportunity to release him, not least for him to leave to the UK where he wishes to go to. The bare minimum should be that Egypt grants full consular access immediately."

    The Egyptian government has previously denied accusations concerning prison conditions, and has defended judicial decisions against foreign criticism, including over Mr Abd El-Fattah's conviction.

  • 7th May, Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, has today sent a letter urging the Foreign Secretary, Lizz Truss, to intervene for Alaa. Read and share it HERE.

  • 3 May, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today was joined by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Time Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jim Moran (R-Kan.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) in introducing a Senate Resolution to commemorate World Press freedom Day and to recognize growing threats to press freedom and free expression worldwide.

    Read it HERE.

  • “A British citizen held and tortured in a maximum security prison in Egypt, has said goodbye to his family as his health deteriorates while he enters the second month of a hunger strike demanding the right to a consular visit.”

    Read the article HERE.

  • Statement by Alaa’s family: Day 10 of full hunger strike

    When I visited Alaa on April 4, in Tora Maximum Security 2, he told me he had started a hunger strike two days earlier, on the first day of Ramadan.

    This is not the first time Alaa has gone on hunger strike, but this time things feel different.

    For two and a half years he has been kept in a cell without sunlight, with no books, no exercise. His visitations have been cut to one family member, for twenty minutes a month, through glass, with not a moment of privacy or contact. For two and a half years he has been subjected to a personal vendetta, living under the complete control of a prison officer bent on punishing him.

    National Security officer, #Ahmed_Fekry, physically assaulted Alaa the moment he set foot in his prison - stripping him, blindfolding him, beating and threatening him. Since that moment, Fekry has been in complete control of Alaa’s life. He is locked in a black hole beyond the realm of law or time.

    In Alaa’s most recent trial, he was not allowed to see a copy of the case file and was sentenced without either the prosecution or the defense having made their cases. But we know that he was accused of retweeting a post about the circumstances surrounding the death of a prisoner. That prisoner was under the supervision of Ahmed Fekry.

    For two and a half years now Alaa has been under Fekry’s complete control. Lawyer’s visits - when they are allowed - take place with Fekry listening. Even visits by Alaa’s son took place under his torturer’s supervision - driving Alaa to suspend his own son’s visits.

    Many prisoners suffer even worse conditions than Alaa’s - and he has been witness to serious crimes committed against them. He, and we on his behalf, have filed dozens of complaints with the Public Prosecutor about the range of violations being constantly perpetrated inside prison. They have gone entirely ignored.

    Here is one, particularly, horrific example:

    On March 2021, Alaa told the courts he heard prisoners being tortured with electricity in a cell close to him. He submitted an official complaint to the judiciary and we, in turn, submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecutor [10579 on March 9th 2021 ]. Authorities came and questioned Alaa in his cell, then showed his testimony to the officer and prison guard he accused of torture. After the investigating authorities left, Ahmed Fekry entered the ward with a phalanx of guards, to the cell where Alaa previously heard the electric shock being used, forcing Alaa to listen as an inmate screamed repeatedly “I never asked you to submit a complaint on my behalf.”

    Alaa was sentenced to five years in December. The two years he served in pre-trial detention before that do not count towards it. The sentence cannot be appealed. This is why he has been driven to hunger strike. A full, open, hunger strike.

    He has two demands:

    The first is as an Egyptian citizen: to assign a judge to investigate the complaints he has already submitted, which document the violations he has been subjected to since the day he was abducted on September 29, 2019.

    The second is as a British citizen: for the British Consulate to be allowed to visit him in prison.

    And to enable him to communicate with our lawyers in the U.K so that they can take all possible legal measures regarding not only the violations he has been subjected to, but all the crimes against humanity he has witnessed during his imprisonment.

    These demands have been submitted in an official report to the Public Prosecutor [16270, ِApril 5th 2022]

    Alaa recently gained British citizenship through our mother, Laila Soueif, who was born in London in May 1956 while her mother, Fatma Moussa, was there doing her PhD (The Influence of the Oriental Tale on English Romanticism). All three of us - Alaa, Mona and Sanaa - all now hold British citizenship in addition to our Egyptian. We did not explore our right to British citizenship until, in 2019, it became clear that Sisi’s prisons would refuse to release our family and we had to find some way out of this impossible ordeal. Through lawyers in England, we enquired about our rights under British law and began a process that, now three years later, has resulted in Alaa having a British passport issued.

    And so, Alaa is asking for urgent action from both Egypt and Britain’s judicial institutions; and we join him in his call.

    Mona and Sanaa

    Sisters of Alaa Abd el-Fattah

    Detained in Sisi’s prisons since 2013

    April 11 2022

    #FreeAlaa

    Read it on Facebook HERE.

  • Associated Press: “A leading Egyptian pro-democracy activist who has been imprisoned for more than 3 1/2 years has obtained a British passport, his family announced Monday. The move is likely meant to pressure Egyptian authorities to release him.”

    Read the news story HERE.

  • The editorial opens:

    “You Have Not Yet Been Defeated” is the title of an anthology of writing by an imprisoned blogger and activist in Egypt, Alaa Abdel Fattah. He has been detained by every Egyptian leader during his lifetime. His family announced he began a hunger strike April 2 to protest harsh conditions in prison. He has not yet been defeated, and must not be.

    Read full editorial HERE