Sister of jailed hunger striker appeals to Egypt president

A sister of jailed hunger striker Alaa Abd el Fattah stated that she has directly requested amnesty for her brother, whose protest has overshadowed this week’s global climate summit in Egypt.

Mona Seif resubmitted a clemency petition, which she originally filed in June, combined with a personal appeal to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, she announced in a post on social media late on Friday, November 11.

Friday at the COP27 climate summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Sisi met with US President Joe Biden. The White House stated, without mentioning Abd el-Fattah, that Biden brought up human rights during their discussions.

Sisi stated that he informed President Biden that Egypt has initiated a national strategy for human rights and a national dialogue.

Since April 2, Abd el-Fattah, a popular blogger and activist who has been detained for the majority of the last decade, has been on hunger strike. He stated that he will cease drinking water on Sunday, coinciding with the start of climate negotiations.

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At the event, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other European leaders reportedly brought up the situation of Egyptian-British national Abd el-Fattah.

Abd el-mother, Fattah’s who has been making daily trips to the prison northwest of Cairo where Abd el-Fattah is being kept, has not heard from her son, although prison officials informed her on Thursday that medical intervention was performed for his health.

His attorney Khaled Ali went to the prison on Thursday after receiving a rare visitation permit from the public prosecutor, but he was denied entry because the document was dated Wednesday.

Abd el-Fattah rose to notoriety during Egypt’s 2011 uprising before being caught up in a widespread crackdown on political dissent after Sisi, then army chief, overthrew Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi, in 2013.

Since then, according to rights groups, tens of thousands of individuals have been jailed, including Islamists, leftists, and liberals. Sisi and his allies emphasize the importance of security and stability.