Latest news with #Abdel-Fattah
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
#FreeAlaa: Will hunger strikes release Alaa Abdel-Fattah?
AP image Calls for the release of the 43-year-old Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah are gaining momentum again. This week, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, or UNWGAD, stated that Abdel-Fattah's continued imprisonment in Egypt is illegal. Following an 18-month investigation, the group argued that no warrant or explanation was present at the time of the arrest, and that Abdel-Fattah was imprisoned for exercising his freedom of expression — a legal right in Egypt. The report concludes with the call on the Egyptian government "to take the steps necessary to remedy the situation without delay…to release Abdel-Fattah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law." Cairo is yet to comment on the ruling, but for Abdel-Fattah's family, who is based in London, the report comes "at an important moment," Omar Hamilton, Abdel-Fattah's cousin, told DW. Abdel-Fattah's mother, Leila Soueif, has been on hunger strike in support of her son's release for around 250 days. This week, the health of the 69-year-old British citizen deteriorated massively. "Our family is in the hospital every day," Hamilton told DW. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo "While we're doing what we can to keep her as comfortable as possible, she is mentally very strong and very determined." Last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ramped up his support as well. Starmer phoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for the second time this year to discuss the situation of Alaa Abdel-Fattah who has been a British citizen since 2022. Starmer called for clemency and said that the Egyptian government was causing the family great anguish. Neither further details, nor the Egyptian reaction were published. According to the British newspaper The Guardian , a diplomatic source said that Egypt doesn't recognize Abdel-Fattah's dual citizenship. The activist has been imprisoned for around a decade. In 2015, he was sentenced to five years for participating in a 2013 protest. In September 2019, he was rearrested during a widespread crackdown on political dissent. and handed a five-year sentence for "spreading false news" in December 2021. Instead of releasing him in September 2024 at the end of his sentence if you count his pretrial detention, authorities ordered to keep him in prison until January 3, 2027. They argued that the two years he spent in pretrial detention are not to be counted toward his sentence, even though the time span exceeded Egypt's legal pretrial length. Abdel-Fattah has also started a hunger strike himself some 100 days ago. 'Time is running out' for activists mother In addition to the latest report by the UN and the support by Starmer, scores of human rights organisations, too, have restarted campaigning for Abdel-Fattah's release, on social media at #FreeAlaa and politically. Earlier this week, 21 rights organisations, including English PEN and Human Rights Watch, sent a joint letter to Egyptian President el-Sissi. One of the signatories, Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director at Human Rights Watch, told DW that "time is running out." "The prominent writer and activist has been detained in Egypt unlawfully for over a decade as his mother Leila faces an imminent risk of death in a hospital in London," she said. "The UK government must use every point of political and diplomatic leverage they have to push Egypt to release the British citizen Alaa Abdel-Fattah." While Abdel-Fattah may be the most prominent political prisoner in Egypt, he is far from the only one. Rights organisations estimate that between 65,000 and 70,000 political prisoners are kept behind bars. Officially, though, Egypt has never stated a number and ranks most of these prisoners as "terrorists." Meanwhile, the latest report by Egypt's National Council for Human Rights, which was installed in 2003 to further Egypt's national human rights strategy, stated "notable progress" on civil and political rights for the period of June 2023 to June 2024. "Nevertheless, several human rights issues persist and require intensified efforts and expedited action to overcome the associated challenges," the report states. Dire rights situation in Egypt For Christian Achrainer, a researcher at Denmark's Roskilde University who has extensively published on Egypt, these words of progress and calls for intensified efforts sound hollow. "The human rights situation in Egypt has not changed much, it is still very bad," he told DW. In his view, none of the governmental bodies that are tasked with improving the country's human rights situation have had a positive impact. "Slightly positive developments have been counteracted by other measures," Achrainer said. "Some political prisoners were released, while others were re-arrested." "In general, freedom of press and freedom of expression remain extremely restricted, and people continue to be imprisoned for expressing their opinions," Achrainer said. Egypt's political leverage Despite increasing international attention and calls for Abdel-Fattah's release, Egypt "is not impressed," Achrainer observes. "Cairo is fundamentally aware of its very good negotiating position with Europe at the moment," he explained. "The multi-billion Euro migration deal in 2024 clearly shows that Europe is prepared to look the other way on human rights issues if Egypt ensures that fewer refugees and migrants come to Europe." Also, Cairo's contacts with all parties to the conflict in Gaza, the fight against terrorism, economic interests and the potential role in conflict-ridden neighboring countries like Libya and Sudan boost Egypt's position as key player in the region. "All of this means that the regime knows that it is not forced to act in the case of [Abdel-Fattah] or in the area of human rights in general," Achrainer said. 'All political prisoners should be freed' Despite this dire rights situation, Egyptians have been submitting petitions and official telegrams to the presidency with their name and address on it asking for Abdel-Fattah's release, Omar Hamilton told DW. "And people all around the world hold vigils and protests," he added. Since Leila Soueif has been hospitalised last Thursday, Abdel-Fattah's family and supporters also gather daily in front of St Thomas' hospital in London. "There's an incredible amount of energy pouring in from around the world," Hamilton said. "And not only us, but all people believe that Alaa should be freed, actually that all the political prisoners should be freed."
DW
05-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
#FreeAlaa: Will hunger strikes release Alaa Abdel-Fattah? – DW – 06/05/2025
A new UN report, the UK and human rights organizations call for the release of Egypt's most prominent detainee. After around 250 days of hunger strike, Alaa Abdel-Fattah's mother is in a life-threatening condition. Calls for the release of the 43-year-old Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah are gaining momentum again. This week, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, or UNWGAD, stated that Abdel-Fattah's continued imprisonment in Egypt is illegal. Following an 18-month investigation, the group argued that no warrant or explanation was present at the time of the arrest, and that Abdel-Fattah was imprisoned for exercising his freedom of expression — a legal right in Egypt. The report concludes with the call on the Egyptian government "to take the steps necessary to remedy the situation without delay…to release Abdel-Fattah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law." Cairo is yet to comment on the ruling, but for Abdel-Fattah's family, who is based in London, the report comes "at an important moment," Omar Hamilton, Abdel-Fattah's cousin, told DW. Abdel-Fattah's mother, Leila Soueif, has been on hunger strike in support of her son's release for around 250 days. This week, the health of the 69-year-old British citizen deteriorated massively. "Our family is in the hospital every day," Hamilton told DW. "While we're doing what we can to keep her as comfortable as possible, she is mentally very strong and very determined." Last week, Leila Soueif was admitted to hospital in London after reaching life-threateningly low blood sugar levels Image: #FreeAlaa Last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ramped up his support as well. Starmer phoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for the second time this year to discuss the situation of Alaa Abdel-Fattah who has been a British citizen since 2022. Starmer called for clemency and said that the Egyptian government was causing the family great anguish. Neither further details, nor the Egyptian reaction were published. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, a diplomatic source said that Egypt doesn't recognize Abdel-Fattah's dual citizenship. The activist has been imprisoned for around a decade. In 2015, he was sentenced to five years for participating in a 2013 protest. In September 2019, he was rearrested during a widespread crackdown on political dissent. and handed a five-year sentence for "spreading false news" in December 2021. Instead of releasing him in September 2024 at the end of his sentence if you count his pretrial detention, authorities ordered to keep him in prison until January 3, 2027. They argued that the two years he spent in pretrial detention are not to be counted toward his sentence, even though the time span exceeded Egypt's legal pretrial length. Abdel-Fattah has also started a hunger strike himself some 100 days ago. 'Time is running out' for activist's mother In addition to the latest report by the UN and the support by Starmer, scores of human rights organizations, too, have restarted campaigning for Abdel-Fattah's release, on social media at #FreeAlaa and politically. Earlier this week, 21 rights organizations, including English PEN and Human Rights Watch, sent ajoint letter to Egyptian President el-Sissi. One of the signatories, Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director at Human Rights Watch, told DW that "time is running out." "The prominent writer and activist has been detained in Egypt unlawfully for over a decade as his mother Leila faces an imminent risk of death in a hospital in London," she said. "The UK government must use every point of political and diplomatic leverage they have to push Egypt to release the British citizen Alaa Abdel-Fattah." While Abdel-Fattah may be the most prominent political prisoner in Egypt, he is far from the only one. Rights organizations estimate that between 65,000 and 70,000 political prisoners are kept behind bars. Officially, though, Egypt has never stated a number and ranks most of these prisoners as "terrorists." Meanwhile, the latest report by Egypt's National Council for Human Rights, which was installed in 2003 to further Egypt's national human rights strategy, stated "notable progress " on civil and political rights for the period of June 2023 to June 2024. "Nevertheless, several human rights issues persist and require intensified efforts and expedited action to overcome the associated challenges," the report states. Egypt's National Council on Human Rights admitted that rights issues persist under President el-Sisi's rule Image: Hadi Mizban/REUTERS Dire rights situation in Egypt For Christian Achrainer, a researcher at Denmark's Roskilde University who has extensively published on Egypt, these words of progress and calls for intensified efforts sound hollow. "The human rights situation in Egypt has not changed much, it is still very bad," he told DW. In his view, none of the governmental bodies that are tasked with improving the country's human rights situation have had a positive impact. "Slightly positive developments have been counteracted by other measures," Achrainer said. "Some political prisoners were released, while others were re-arrested." "In general, freedom of press and freedom of expression remain extremely restricted, and people continue to be imprisoned for expressing their opinions," Achrainer said. Egypt's political leverage Despite increasing international attention and calls for Abdel-Fattah's release, Egypt "is not impressed," Achrainer observes. "Cairo is fundamentally aware of its very good negotiating position with Europe at the moment," he explained. "The multi-billion Euro migration deal in 2024 clearly shows that Europe is prepared to look the other way on human rights issues if Egypt ensures that fewer refugees and migrants come to Europe." Also, Cairo's contacts with all parties to the conflict in Gaza, the fight against terrorism, economic interests and the potential role in conflict-ridden neighboring countries like Libya and Sudan boost Egypt's position as key player in the region. "All of this means that the regime knows that it is not forced to act in the case of [Abdel-Fattah] or in the area of human rights in general," Achrainer said. Leila Soueif's determination to continue her hunger strike until Alaa Abdel-Fattah is released remains undeterred, her nephew Omar Hamilton told DW. Image: Vuk Valcic/Zuma/picture alliance 'All political prisoners should be freed' Despite this dire rights situation, Egyptians have been submitting petitions and official telegrams to the presidency with their name and address on it asking for Abdel-Fattah's release, Omar Hamilton told DW. "And people all around the world hold vigils and protests," he added. Since Leila Soueif has been hospitalized last Thursday, Abdel-Fattah's family and supporters also gather daily in front of St Thomas' hospital in London. "There's an incredible amount of energy pouring in from around the world," Hamilton said. "And not only us, but all people believe that Alaa should be freed, actually that all the political prisoners should be freed." Abdel Fattah is one of many: Human rights activist Hossam Baghat To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Carla Bleiker
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
UK 'deeply concerned' about jailed Egyptian-British dissident's hunger-striking mother
LONDON (Reuters) -The British government said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" about the health of the mother of jailed Egyptian-British dissident Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Laila Soueif, who has been admitted to hospital while continuing a hunger strike. Soueif, 69, a mathematics professor from a family of prominent activists and intellectuals, was taken to a London hospital last week and has said she is prepared to die to help secure the release of her son from prison. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was worried about Soueif's health and continues to urge the Egyptian government to release her son. "We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation and remain in regular contact with her family regarding her welfare," Starmer's spokesman told reporters. The Egyptian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Abd el-Fattah, a software developer and blogger who rose to prominence as an activist in the 2011 Arab Spring, was jailed for five years in Egypt in 2021 over a social media post, a sentence that followed several previous spells in prison, including before and after the uprising. Starmer's spokesman said the British foreign secretary David Lammy spoke to his Egyptian counterpart on Sunday and urged him to release Abd el-Fattah. "The government is absolutely committed to Alaa Abd el-Fattah's release," he said. "Further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues." Abd el-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 on charges of spreading fake news, for sharing a social media post about the death of a prisoner. The accusation is commonly levelled at critics of the government and activists who post on social media.
Straits Times
03-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
UK 'deeply concerned' about jailed Egyptian-British dissident's hunger-striking mother
FILE PHOTO: Laila Soueif, mother of jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, poses for a portrait during a hunger strike to protest against her son's detention in Egypt, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo LONDON - The British government said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" about the health of the mother of jailed Egyptian-British dissident Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Laila Soueif, who has been admitted to hospital while continuing a hunger strike. Soueif, 69, a mathematics professor from a family of prominent activists and intellectuals, was taken to a London hospital last week and has said she is prepared to die to help secure the release of her son from prison. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was worried about Soueif's health and continues to urge the Egyptian government to release her son. "We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation and remain in regular contact with her family regarding her welfare," Starmer's spokesman told reporters. The Egyptian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Abd el-Fattah, a software developer and blogger who rose to prominence as an activist in the 2011 Arab Spring, was jailed for five years in Egypt in 2021 over a social media post, a sentence that followed several previous spells in prison, including before and after the uprising. Starmer's spokesman said the British foreign secretary David Lammy spoke to his Egyptian counterpart on Sunday and urged him to release Abd el-Fattah. "The government is absolutely committed to Alaa Abd el-Fattah's release," he said. "Further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues." Abd el-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 on charges of spreading fake news, for sharing a social media post about the death of a prisoner. The accusation is commonly levelled at critics of the government and activists who post on social media. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Middle East Eye
31-05-2025
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Alaa Abd el-Fattah's mother at risk of ‘sudden death', doctor says
The mother of British-Egyptian prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah is facing the risk of 'sudden death' as her blood sugar level falls to dangerously low levels on the 244th day of her hunger strike. Laila Soueif, who began her hunger strike in protest at her son's continued imprisonment by the Egyptian authorities, was warned by doctors on Friday that even a 'slight further reduction' in her blood sugar could result in a 'rapid loss of consciousness' and 'sudden death'. Abd el-Fattah was a key figure in the 2011 Egyptian revolution that ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak and has spent the best part of a decade behind bars. On 29 September 2024, Abd el-Fattah was due to complete a five-year sentence for 'spreading false news', but the authorities failed to release him, refusing to count the two years he spent in pre-trial detention towards his sentence. Sine then, Soueif has not consumed any food. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Medical tests conducted at hospital revealed that Soueif's blood sugar dropped below 0.6 mmol/L on Thursday night – a level too low to be accurately measured. At the same time, her ketone levels, which indicate blood acidity, exceeded 7 mmol/L, suggesting a degree of acidosis that is also beyond the limits of medical detection. Since beginning her strike, the 69-year-old has lost 36kg – approximately 42 percent of her body weight – and now weighs just 49kg. Soueif's doctor has described her condition as a 'medical emergency' and warned that her death is an 'immediate risk'. The doctor added that, without urgent glucose treatment, she faces a 'clear risk' of irreversible damage to vital organs, including the heart, brain, and kidneys. The doctor further explained that Soueif's current blood sugar level is 'not typically compatible with consciousness,' and that her 'body's carbohydrate stores are essentially depleted'. They added that her body is now relying on its last reserves of fat to survive. 'We're losing her' British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly expressed his personal commitment to securing the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah. Soueif shifted to a partial hunger strike on 28 February, following a call between Starmer and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, during which the prime minister reportedly 'pressed' Sisi to release Abd el-Fattah. But little has shifted since then. On 20 May, Soueif announced she would be stopping her intake of 300 calories a day. However, little progress has been made since. On 20 May, Soueif announced that she would cease consuming the 300 calories per day she had been allowing herself. 'Bottom line is we're losing her… there is no time. Keir Starmer needs to act now. Not tomorrow, not Monday. Now. Right now,' Soueif's daughter Sanaa Seif said in a press briefing outside St Thomas's hospital in London. 'It's a miracle that last night passed. It's a miracle that we still have her. I'm really, really proud of my Mum. And I want to remind Keir Starmer of his promise to us. We put our faith in him. Don't let us down, do something and do it today. Now.' Meanwhile, Abd el-Fattah has now reached the 92nd day of his own hunger strike from Wadi El-Natrun prison. On 12 April, he fell seriously ill, experiencing vomiting, severe stomach pain and dizziness. On Wednesday, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) concluded that Abd el-Fattah's continued imprisonment is unlawful, and that he should be released immediately under international law.
