Latest news with #AbdElFattah
Mada
a day ago
- Health
- Mada
Politicians, students, 130 former prisoners call for Sisi to release Alaa Abd El Fattah immediately
Urgent appeals have mounted in the last hours for the immediate release of detained activist and writer, Alaa Abd El Fattah, as his mother Laila Soueif lies in hospital in London, 245 days into a hunger strike. Egyptian authorities have imprisoned Abd El Fattah since 2019, in what United Nations experts ruled last week is arbitrary detention. Among those calling for his release are nearly 130 former prisoners, all of whom faced similar charges to Abd El Fattah in relation to their political views, and who issued a statement on Saturday calling for the writer's release 'today, not tomorrow,' in a plea to 'end the suffering of his family and save the life of his mother.' Soueif's blood sugar dropped dangerously low on Thursday night and she was hospitalized. Doctors say her life is in immediate danger. The prisoners' statement was shared by activist Ahmed Douma, who spent a decade in prison for participating in protests before he was granted presidential amnesty in 2023, and by lawyer and activist Mahienour al-Massry who was detained in 2018 while advocating for the release of detainees imprisoned for their political convictions. All signatories to the appeal faced charges similar to Abd El Fattah's, the statement said, including spreading false news, unlawful assembly, joining a terrorist group 'or other charges tied to freedom of expression and public participation.' The statement voiced deep concern over the decline in Soueif's health. 'In her perseverance,' it read, 'resounds the perseverance of hundreds of families worn down by imprisonment, and the stories of parents, siblings and children who have tried to make their voices heard only to be met with a wall of silence.' Soueif has made repeated appeals, both to the Public Prosecution and to leaders in both Egypt and the United Kingdom, where she and her family hold second nationality. In their statement, which remained open for additional signatories, the former prisoners called on authorities to 'reconsider the cases of all political prisoners.' 'We urge the relevant authorities in the Egyptian state to act with the wisdom and responsibility that this critical historical moment demands — and to release Alaa Abd El Fattah, in whatever form they see fit, in a way that befits a strong nation capable of correcting its course without hesitation,' the statement read. The signatories argued that releasing Abd El Fattah would do no harm to the state, just as their own releases 'have not posed any threat to public safety.' Instead, their release was welcomed both domestically and internationally as 'a reflection of a maturing state that comprehends the moment,' the statement added. Soueif, a mathematics professor at Cairo University, is on hunger strike to call for her son's release in 2024. The writer's sentence was due to come to an end in September but prosecutors refused the families' petitions to credit the two years he spent in remand detention toward his final sentence. The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal parties, also called for Abd El Fattah's release at a press conference held Sunday at the headquarters of the Conservative Party. The politicians said that the power to release Abd El Fattah lay in the President's hands, urging him to include Abd El Fattah, alongside others imprisoned for freedom of expression, in general amnesty lists released for Eid al-Adha. Lawyer Suzanne Nady, who was in attendance, questioned what more must happen before Egyptian authorities begin upholding the law. 'We've already exhausted every peaceful route,' she said. Cairo University students submitted their own urgent appeal on Sunday to university president Mohamed Samy Abdel Sadek to intervene and save Soueif's life, who they said 'continued to fulfill her academic and teaching responsibilities at the university with unwavering dedication, up until the moment she departed for London.' The statement, a copy of which Mada Masr reviewed, called for Abdel Sadek to address the president and relevant authorities to secure Abd El Fattah's release 'in recognition of what [Soueif] offered and continues to offer to the university and Egypt's scientific community.' Over the past months, Soueif has repeatedly appealed to authorities in both Egypt and the United Kingdom. But 'nothing has changed,' Soueif said in a statement two weeks ago, announcing her decision to resume a full hunger strike after she had temporarily increased her intake to include a 300-calorie liquid supplement daily in March at the advice of doctors. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last contacted President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regarding Abd El Fattah's case on May 22. Though Soueif acknowledged Starmer's intentions in her announcement that she would resume a full hunger strike, she concluded that 'nothing is happening' to release her son. 'We have used up more days than we ever thought we had. We need Alaa released now.'
Mada
3 days ago
- Health
- Mada
Laila Soueif hospitalized amid hunger strike for her son's release
Laila Soueif was admitted to St. Thomas's Hospital in central London on Thursday night as her health deteriorated due to the hunger strike she has been on for over 200 days to call for her son's release from prison. Activist and writer Alaa Abd El Fattah has been in prison since 2019, in what United Nations experts ruled earlier this week is arbitrary detention by Egyptian authorities. Soueif began a hunger strike in 2024, when Abd El Fattah's prison sentence on false news charges was due to come to an end but prosecutors refused petitions to credit the two years he served in remand detention toward his final sentence. Soueif has appealed to authorities in both Egypt and the United Kingdom, where she and her family hold second nationality. But 'nothing has changed,' Soueif said in a statement 10 days ago, announcing that she would resume the full hunger strike. At medics' advice, the assistant mathematics professor at Cairo University had lessened the restrictions on her caloric intake while maintaining a partial hunger strike in recent months following an initial hospital admission in February. In a statement on Thursday evening, her family said Soueif's blood sugar had dropped to dangerous levels. Sharing an image captured at the hospital, Soueif's daughter, Mona Seif, noted that until this afternoon, Soueif was still conscious but had declined medical intervention. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last contacted President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on May 22 to push for Abd El Fattah's release. Though Soueif acknowledged Starmer's intentions in her announcement that she would resume a full hunger strike, she concluded that 'nothing is happening' to release her son, adding, 'we have used up more days than we ever thought we had. We need Alaa released now.'
Mada
5 days ago
- Politics
- Mada
Alaa Abd El Fattah arbitrarily detained, UN experts say, requesting immediate release
The imprisonment of writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah is arbitrary and illegal, a United Nations expert panel has ruled. In a press release published Wednesday the group called on Egypt to carry out its obligation to 'release him immediately under international law.' Commenting on the ruling, Director of Reporters Without Borders Fiona O'Brien said that the ruling should 'bring his suffering and that of his family to an end,' calling for Egypt to release Abd El Fattah and allow him to return to his family in the United Kingdom. Abd El Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison on political charges. He continues to be detained by authorities in Egypt despite completing in September the sentence issued against him in 2021. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) argued that no warrant or explanation was present at the time of Abd El Fattah's arrest and that he was imprisoned for exercising his freedom of expression — a legal right in Egypt. Abd El Fattah was arrested in September 2019 after he republished an activist's post about the death of a prisoner under torture in the notorious Aqrab Prison. He was then detained pending investigations into the offenses of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, which are often deployed against government critics. The statement also cited the lack of a fair trial and the 'discriminatory nature of the detention based on his political views.' During his 2021 trial at an emergency state security misdemeanors court, Abd El Fattah was denied the right to appeal the sentence, which was handed down only after three trial sessions. His defense lawyers were also prevented from access to the case files or an opportunity to present a defense. He was ultimately referred to trial on false news charges and sentenced with an additional five years. In the Wednesday press release, UNWGAD also requested that the Egyptian government 'remedy the situation' by releasing the writer and activist and granting him 'an enforceable right to compensation' among other forms of recompense under international law. The assessment of the five independent UN experts adds to the voices which have pushed for his release. Abd El Fattah's family have escalated their calls for his release since September, which marked the passage of five years that he spent in detention. His mother, academic and activist Laila Soueif, is currently on a full hunger strike in protest of his continued detention. Her health condition has deteriorated rapidly over the 241 days of her strike. Abd El Fattah also began a full hunger strike in prison on March 1. Soueif, whose family including her son hold British and Egyptian nationality, has also held daily demonstrations outside the British government headquarters, urging them to intervene with Egyptian authorities to secure her son's release. Commenting on UNGWAD's ruling that Abd El Fattah's detention is unlawful, the activist's cousin, author Omar Robert Hamilton, said in a Wednesday press release that, 'We are calling on the British government to take Egypt to the International Court of Justice for breach of the Vienna Convention.' In a call with Sisi last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pressed for Abdel El Fattah's 'urgent release' so that he can be reunited with his family. Starmer also highlighted the importance of bringing an end to the 'anguish Alaa and his family have faced.' He has also confirmed, in response to a parliamentary question, what he had previously said to Soueif — that he is committed to doing everything in his power to push for Abd El Fattah's release. On their side, Abd El Fattah's family submitted a presidential pardon request and two legal petitions to the public prosecutor in Egypt earlier this month, as Soueif's health continues to decline. Abd El Fattah's defense lawyer, Khaled Ali, has previously stated that prosecutors should have released Abd El Fattah at the conclusion of his five-year sentence in 2024 — as the two years he spent in remand detention should count toward the total. Prosecutors have declined legal attempts to sue for his release, however, meaning that his imprisonment is likely to extend until January 2026. Amnesty International has expressed fears that authorities will then resort to other tactics to extend his imprisonment further. In her demand for the UN ruling to be used for British and Egyptian officials to facilitate Abd El Fattah's release, O'Brien expressed the urgency of ending his arbitrary detention for both him and his family. 'They cannot afford to wait any longer,' she said.
New York Times
27-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
‘Risk to Life' for Woman on Hunger Strike Over Son Jailed in Egypt
The mother of a jailed British Egyptian activist has been hospitalized and is at risk of sudden death, a doctor has said, as her hunger strike to demand her son's release reached 151 days. Laila Soueif, the mother of Alaa Abd El Fattah, one of Egypt's best-known political prisoners, has survived since late September on water, rehydration salts and sugarless tea and coffee to push for his release from a Cairo prison, her family said. Ms. Soueif, 68, a mathematician and professor who is also a British citizen, started her hunger strike after it became clear that Mr. Abd El Fattah, 43, who had served a five-year sentence, was not going to be released as expected in September. She told The New York Times last fall that she would not back down in her campaign to pressure the British government to use its diplomatic and economic ties with Egypt to secure his release. 'When people ask, 'What do you think you're doing?' I say, 'I'm creating a crisis,' ' she said in an interview. Ms. Soueif lives in Cairo, but has been spending time in Britain throughout her hunger strike and on Monday was admitted to a hospital in London after her blood sugar and blood pressure dropped to dangerously low levels. A doctor treating Ms. Soueif at St. Thomas and Guy's Hospital wrote that her condition was now extremely serious, in a letter shared by her family and supporters on social media. 'I have explained the gravity of her condition and the serious harms which will result from continued fasting,' wrote the doctor, whose name was redacted from the public version of the letter. He added, 'there is now immediate risk to life including further deterioration or death,' and that Ms. Soueif 'is in particular at high risk of sudden death with continued fasting.' Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, said he would continue to raise the case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and push for Mr. Abd El Fattah's release. 'It is an incredibly difficult situation for them,' Mr. Starmer said, adding that he had met with the family a few days ago and 'will do everything I can to ensure the release in this case. That includes phone calls as necessary.' Mr. Abd El Fattah became a prominent voice of the Egyptian uprising in 2011 that toppled the country's authoritarian ruler, Hosni Mubarak. But an Islamist political party took power in Egypt's first democratic presidential election, and then a widespread backlash to its rule allowed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to later seize power. Since then, Mr. el-Sisi has cracked down on dissenting voices. Mr. Abd El Fattah has spent much of the last decade in prison after two earlier arrests, in 2006 for protesting for judicial independence and then in 2011 for an article critical of Egypt's military. He was detained again from 2013 until March 2019 on charges of organizing an illegal protest. Months later, in September 2019, he was arrested again and sentenced in 2021 to five years for sharing a Facebook post about abuse in prison. He had been set to be released from prison in September 2024, but the Egyptian authorities said that they would not count his two years of pretrial detention toward his sentence, an increasingly routine practice in the country. Mr. Abd El Fattah is now scheduled for release in 2027, although he and his family fear he could be held indefinitely. While in jail, he successfully applied for British citizenship through his mother, who is a dual national. Several British lawmakers wrote a letter to Mr. Starmer last month urging him to 'intensify efforts across the whole of government to make Alaa's urgent release a reality.' But pressuring the Egyptian authorities on individual cases can backfire, diplomats in Cairo have said. The British have pressed for consular visits with Mr. Abd El Fattah and called for his release since he gained British citizenship in 2021, but they have had no success. And Mr. Abd El Fattah's family worry time is running out. 'If Keir Starmer would pick up the phone and speak to President Sisi, I believe that he can secure the release of my brother, and save my mother's life,' Sanaa Seif, Mr. Abd El Fattah's younger sister, said in a statement, adding, 'Every moment that he waits means that my mother is more likely to die.'
Mada
26-02-2025
- Health
- Mada
Laila Soueif at ‘immediate risk' amid hunger strike, parties ask Sisi for Alaa Abd El Fattah's release
'There is now immediate risk to life, including further deterioration or death' for Laila Soueif, mother of long-imprisoned writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, her doctor stated on Tuesday, commenting on Soueif's health condition due to the prolonged hunger strike in which she has protested for the release of her son. Soueif began her hunger strike on September 30 to protest Egyptian authorities' refusal to release Abd El Fattah at the end of his five-year imprisonment, according to a statement made by the family at the time. The doctor's assessment came following Soueif's hospitalization on Monday at St Thomas' Hospital in London. In line with the news of Soueif's health crisis, the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM), a coalition of opposition parties and entities, issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, calling for the president to issue a presidential pardon for Abdel Fattah and end his family's 'suffering.' Her continued fast presents a 'serious risk to her health,' according to her doctor, who said potential outcomes include permanent damage to her organs, particularly her heart and brain, and that she is 'at high risk of sudden death with continued fasting,' The letter, issued by the doctor responsible for her care at the hospital, was anonymized and published online by the campaign calling for Abd El Fattah's release. Alongside her fast, Soueif and her family have petitioned for authorities in Egypt and the United Kingdom, where they also hold nationality, to step in and release the writer from jail. According to the doctor's letter, dated February 25, the fast has led to critical refractory hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar. They added that Soueif is also suffering from significant weight loss with loss of body sugar and fat stores, as well as low blood protein levels due to the lack of nutrition. Soueif previously told Mada Masr that during the hunger strike she would consume only water and rehydration solutions from 'the first minute of September 30.' Her campaign said other than this, she has consumed only black coffee and herbal tea. Mona Seif, one of Laila's daughters, said on Tuesday that despite her mother's deteriorating condition, she continues to refuse glucose, a view echoed by her doctor who noted that she is resolute in refusing glucose 'until the resolution of the situation involving her son.' Since his involvement in the January 2011 revolution, Abd El Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison on political charges. He served a five-year sentence following his conviction on charges of illegal protest in the case that became known as the ' Shura Council Incidents,' and was to spend five additional years on probationary measures that included spending every night in a police station starting from his release in 2019. Yet he was soon re-arrested, after he republished an activist's post about the death of a prisoner under torture in the Aqrab Prison. He was detained pending investigations into the commonly deployed offense of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and held in remand detention for more than two years. He was ultimately referred to trial on only false news charges, and sent to the court, which sentenced him to five years. 'Alaa has completed his sentence, and he is eligible for release because his time in pretrial detention should be counted, Alaa's sister said in a video on her social media platform on Tuesday. 'Alaa should be released because we have been submitting a direct request to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for months, urging him to grant a pardon for Alaa and consider the years that have been taken from his life and [his son's].' Abd El Fattah's defense lawyer, Khaled Ali, has previously stated that prosecutors refused to consider the two years Abd El Fattah spent in remand detention before he was referred to trial as part of his five-year sentence. Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky has rejected the family's request to count the two years of detention that Abd El Fattah spent in prison as part of his five-year prison sentence. This means Abd El Fattah will continue to be imprisoned until January 3, 2027, amid fears, expressed by Amnesty International, that authorities will then resort to other tactics to extend his imprisonment further. Tens of individuals, political activists and public figures announced a 24-hour collective hunger strike on social media platforms, to take place on Wednesday 26, in solidarity with Soueif's strike and in protest of her son's continued imprisonment. In the Wednesday statement, parties in the CDM added that Souief's willingness to sacrifice her life for her son's freedom will 'leave a profound and lasting mark' on the conscience of those concerned with the nation and who aim for political reform, economic recovery and the establishment of a democratic state that upholds freedom of expression. The broadly liberal alliance of political groups then took the opportunity to call for the release of those held in remand detention on political charges, the pardon of others convicted in cases similar to Abd El Fattah and the reopening of the public space for political and civic engagement amid what CDM called 'external challenges and threats.' 'Whatever the method, whatever the release, it doesn't matter,' said Mona Seif in her video appeal. 'What matters is that Alaa is released and Mom doesn't die, and we are left alone.'
