SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — The circle of relatives of one of Egypt’s most sensiblely jailed democracy activists is warning that his life is running out as they plead with world leaders at the U. N. climate convention to put Egypt under pressure. for launch.
Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who has spent most of the past decade in a crime for criticizing its leaders and last year was sentenced to five more years for a retweet, stepped up a months-long hunger strike. He completely stopped his calorie intake and then stopped drinking. Water on Sunday, the first day of the conference.
Sanaa Seif, his younger sister, said Tuesday that the circle of relatives feared the Egyptian government would force her brother to force-feed himself to keep him alive in the face of the shame of his death while the country is in the foreign crosshairs.
“Force-feeding is torture. Nothing happens that opposes his will as long as he can say it,” he told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the convention at the hotel in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Seif, who was also jailed in Egypt for her activism in the afterlife and now lives in Britain, arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh to raise her brother’s case, speaking to foreign media and other activists. Amnesty International warned that he could die inside. of days if he is not released.
The circle of relatives lobbied the British government to secure Abdel-Fattah’s release and bring him back to the UK, where he also has citizenship. In a letter to his circle of relatives pronouncing his water strike, Abdel-Fattah said he was convinced the Egyptian government did not aim to release him and that the highlight of the convention was the only chance to force his case, and that he was willing to die if he was not released.
“I need to be here to remind you (world leaders) that there is a guy dying there and that you are all complicit. And they will have blood on their hands. And that’s why I’m here,” Seif said.
At the Sharm el-Sheikh rally, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz raised the activist’s case during their talks with the Egyptian leader, their offices said, though Sunak has avoided questions from reporters about it.
Abdel-Fattah rose to fame with decades of pro-democracy activism, namely the 2011 uprisings that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and spread across the Middle East.
For many, his imprisonment is another sign of Egypt’s return to autocratic rule under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the best friend of many Western governments. and enforcing strict restrictions on independent teams and media.
Days before the start of the climate conference, another jailed activist, Alaa al-Salmi, died in a crime after being on hunger strike for two months, his circle of relatives said. Rights teams say flawed situations and abuses abound among Egyptian criminals. and many have died in custody.
Abdel-Fattah has been framed several times under other governments for lobbying for civil rights. After el-Sisi’s government virtually banned protests, he served a five-year criminal sentence for participating in an unauthorized protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer.
He was released in 2019, but a few months later he was arrested again after retweeting the news of another prisoner’s death. At the time, the government was arresting dozens of activists after a rare surge in anti-government protests, even though most, like Abdel-Fattah, were not involved. In December, he was convicted of spreading false news and sentenced to another five years in prison.
At the moment, on Tuesday, his mother, Laila Soueif, went to the prison where her son is being held to obtain evidence that he is still alive. He waited for many hours outside the prison for a letter from Abdel-Fattah, however, he said he had refused to write one.
“There is a forced blackout,” his aunt Ahdaf Soueif wrote on Facebook Tuesday night. “The officials said Alaa is fine, there was no force-feeding, but no letter either. “
On her last stop in Cairo, security guards detained her for hours at the airport before allowing her in. She said she was not arrested when she arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday and was not harassed. being followed.
“I stopped doing those calculations. . . Because when you don’t have many options, you have nothing to lose. And that’s where the Egyptian regime put us,” he said.
At a news conference Tuesday, a pro-government Egyptian lawmaker tried to alter things, grabbing the microphone and shouting that her brother was a thief and not a political prisoner and that she was inciting foreign governments that opposed Egypt. room.
Later Tuesday, on one occasion on human rights in Egypt, an activist organization wore white T-shirts with the words “#FREEALAA. “They also chanted “Free Alaa,” before the voices of the crowd were heard in Arabic: “Alaa is a terrorist,” “Alaa is a murderer. “
Hossam Bahgat, one of Egypt’s leading human rights defenders and director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, called on all COP27 participants to highlight what he described as “a large-scale human rights crisis” in Egypt.
“We ask you to join our demands for the Egyptian government to push for the release of political prisoners, save the life of Alaa Abdel-Fattah and release him,” he said.
Western governments have long been reluctant to exert heavy pressure on el-Sisi’s government on human rights, with officials arguing that behind-the-scenes negotiations are more effective in freeing prisoners.
Macron said el-Sisi told him at his assembly that he was committed to making sure “his physical condition is preserved. “
“I say this cautiously, I hope that the coming weeks and months will bring results,” the French president said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry gave no sign that Egypt contemplated a liberation.
Speaking to CNBC, Shukry said Abdel-Fattah would get “the necessary physical care for all detainees. “He also advised that the Egyptian government not officially recognize his British citizenship.
Skeptical seif.
“The solution is very, very simple: put him on a plane to London or give him consular access. Allow the British embassy to see it,” he said. I do not accept it as true with the criminal authorities.
He doesn’t think about the worst-case scenario: his brother’s death.
“It’s not over until it’s over. As long as he continues to breathe alive, there is room to save him. And that’s the only thing that comes to mind,” he said.