- David Gretten
- BBC
Sana Seif expressed her confidence in Sunak.
The sister of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah said she “hopes and trusts” that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be able to release him during his visit to Egypt to attend the climate summit.
Speaking from Sharm el-Sheikh, where the climate summit is taking place, Sana Seif told the BBC she was confident that “he could do it if it really was a priority for him.”
Abdel Fattah, 40, has been on hunger strike for more than six months.
Her family said she has now stopped drinking water and could die within days.
A spokesman for Sunak’s Downing Street said the prime minister stressed his “deep concern” over the issue during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
“The prime minister has expressed hope that he will see a solution as soon as possible and will continue to push for progress,” the spokesman added.
Before the trip, Sunak told Abdel Fattah’s family in a letter that his government was “strongly committed to doing everything in its power” to secure his release.
photo released, AFP
Alaa’s family says he obtained British citizenship in late 2021
From the 2011 riot to prison
Abdel Fattah, a prominent pro-democracy activist and blogger, first appeared during the 2011 uprising in Egypt that forced former president Hosni Mubarak to resign.
Since Sisi came to power in 2014 after the military ousted democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi, Abdel Fattah has spent most of his time in prison or in police custody.
Last year he was convicted of “spreading fake news” in social media posts and sentenced to five years in prison. Human rights groups have described the accusation as false and the trial as a farce.
His family said in April that he had started a hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment and harsh conditions of detention and refusal to visit the British consulate, and that at first he only consumed water and salt, then he did. a maximum of 100 calories per day is allowed.
Last week he told relatives that he would only drink water until Sunday, when the climate conference starts, and then it will stop.
What does his sister Sana say?
Her sister, Sana Seif, a 28-year-old human rights defender and herself who served three prison sentences in Egypt on charges of other activists described as bogus, went to Sharm el-Sheikh to launch a campaign on Alaa’s behalf.
He told the BBC he would start drinking water again if British consular officials were allowed to visit him because “he would feel there is hope for the future”.
He added that he believes Sunak has the power to pressure the Egyptian president to release his brother.
“I’m sure it will,” she said. “It’s difficult, times are very tight. But I know it will, because there is a precedent. Other governments have done it.”
photo released, PA Medium
“I’m not sure if the diplomatic team working on the case actually prepared it properly for the prime minister. But I trust the prime minister because I know he can do it if it’s a priority for him,” she added.
Sana noted that the “tension” in British politics in recent months has provided officials and diplomats with an “excuse” not to work hard to solve her brother’s case.
He said: “I suddenly felt when Alaa stopped [شرب] The water is that all of a sudden we started getting phone calls and got a message from the Prime Minister. So it seems that suddenly they realized the urgency. ”
In response, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the BBC it was “deeply concerned about the continued detention of Alaa Abdel-Fattah”.
The office added: “The government is working hard to secure his release and continues to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.”
The opinion of the Egyptian government
But another Abdel Fattah’s sister, Mona Seif, accused Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry of lying in an interview with CNBC, in which she stated her confidence that the prison authorities were providing Alaa “l ‘health care, assistance available to all prisoners “.
Shoukry added: “There have been reports of previous hunger strikes that cannot be verified. This is a matter of personal choice that we are facing under the sanctions regime.”
Shoukry said Egyptian authorities have not yet recognized Alaa Abdel Fattah’s dual British citizenship, obtained last December from her London-born mother.
