UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pressed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to release British citizen and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has been jailed in Cairo since 2019.
Downing Street confirmed that Starmer discussed the case with President Sisi during a telephone call on Friday, urging for Fattah’s release.
Starmer had previously met with Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, to discuss her son’s situation.
Fattah, 43, a prominent pro-democracy campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for “spreading false news.”
A key figure in Egypt’s 2011 revolution, Fattah was granted British citizenship in 2022 through his British-born mother.
His family has described his trial as a farce and is calling for his immediate release, claiming that he has already served his sentence.
Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 152 days in protest against her son’s imprisonment. She has recently been hospitalised in London due to dangerously low blood sugar and sodium levels.
Despite doctors warning of life-threatening risks, Soueif agreed to take a glucose drip at her daughter’s request to try to prolong her life.
However, doctors have emphasised that the intervention is temporary and that her survival is uncertain.
Soueif has lost nearly 30 kilograms (66 pounds) during her hunger strike, which she has vowed to continue until her son is freed. In addition to her hunger strike, Soueif has demonstrated outside Starmer’s office in London every weekday, calling for Fattah’s release.
Sanaa Seif, Fattah’s sister, urged Starmer to take urgent action, expressing concern that this may be the last opportunity to persuade her mother to continue the protest.
She urged the Prime Minister to make the most of the time he has left to secure her brother’s freedom.
