Alaa Abd El-Fattah: Sister of British-Egyptian detainee stages sit-in outside Foreign Office

The sister of a British-Egyptian prisoner on hunger strike in Egypt is staging a sit-in protest outside the Foreign Office in King Charles Street, London calling for the government to secure her brother’s release.

Alaa Abd El-Fattah, 40, a prominent human rights activist and blogger, has been on hunger strike in Cairo’s notorious Tora Maximum Security Two prison after receiving an unfair jail sentence late last year.

On Wednesday  (October 19), Abdel Fattah had been on hunger strike for 200 consecutive days and with fears mounting for his well-being his family have stepped up their campaign for his release.

Sanaa Seif, 28, plans to camp outside the Foreign Office until the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly agrees to meet her, or until the beginning of the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt, which is set to start on November 6.

“I want the people who work in this building and the FCDO to have a daily reminder that there is this desperate case happening in Egypt and we have a citizen over there that we need to save,” Seif told LondonWorld.

“I want James Cleverly to take this as a priority and to bring my brother home.

“In 20 days the COP27 climate conference will happen in Egypt and our government will be sending an official delegate.

“I’m really worried that our delegate will go and engage with Egyptian authorities and continue with diplomacy as usual while there is a British citizen dying in an Egyptian prison.

“Without showing that Alaa is a priority for the British government, raising his case is just lip service really.

“And I’m worried that my brother will die in prison.”

Abdel Fattah rose to prominence in Egypt during nationwide protests in 2011 against Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian government and has been targeted by the authorities for most of the past decade

Among other things, the activist suffered torture soon after his detention in 2019.

According to Human Rights Watch, tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists, environmental groups, and human rights defenders, are imprisoned in Egypt on "terrorism" charges.

“Alaa has been living on around 100 calories a day on skimmed milk and honey in his tea,” Seif explained.

Seif explained that her mother, who is a mathematics professor in Cairo, is allowed to visit her brother once a month.

She said that the last time she saw him he was very frail.

“Alaa is really desperate, he feels like he will die in prison.

“Every time he finishes a sentence they just put him on a new case.

“Alaa is fighting this to the end, he is putting his body on the line to get consular access.

“Egypt and Britain have a really strong relationship, there should be more done.

“The French have managed to get their citizens back from Egyptian prisons, the US did it also.

“I know that Britain is capable of doing that if there is enough political will.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is also the family’s constituency MP, came to visit Sanaa on the first night of her sit-in on Tuesday October 18.

“Alaa Abd el-Fattah has now been languishing in an Egyptian prison,” he said, speaking outside the Foreign Office.

“He’s losing health, he’s losing weight.

“We’re really concerned.

“He is a British National and what we can’t do is cut loose British nationals who find themselves in this position.

“I’m pledged and dedicated to making sure that the Foreign Office and our consular support is there in full for British nationals.

“I’ve made representations to the Egyptians, I will continue to do that.

“We want to see him home safe and well.”

This comes as Lammy recently pledged to create a new legal right to provide consular assistance for British citizens who fall into difficulty abroad if Labour come into power.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “The government is working hard to secure Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s release, and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.

“The foreign secretary most recently raised his case when he met Egyptian foreign minister Shoukry at the UN general assembly last month.”

To support Alaa Abdel Fattah’s campaign you can write to your local MP or sign this petition.