Family urges UK govt to secure release of Egyptian dissident

The family of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah urged the UK government on Thursday to act to ensure his release in three days' time, when he will have served a full five years in custody.

Abdel Fattah, 42, was arrested on September 29, 2019.

Just over two years later, he was handed a five-year sentence for "spreading false news" by sharing a Facebook post about police brutality.

But his family say the time he spent in pre-trial detention from 2019 means he should be freed on Saturday.

The activist, computer programmer and blogger, who was given British citizenship in 2022 through his British-born mother, mobilised youths in the 2011 uprising that unseated autocratic Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Rights groups say there are more than 60,000 "prisoners of conscience" who have been jailed in Egypt under the rule of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak raised the case directly with the president during the United Nations' COP27 climate summit in November 2022, which was held in Egypt.

French President Emmanuel Macron also took up his case with Sisi and US President Joe Biden raised human rights issues.

"If he is not out by September 29, it is an open-ended sentence. This means that they (the Egyptian authorities) can do anything," one of his sisters, Mona Seif, told reporters in London.

Another sister, Sanaa Seif, said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been "extremely supportive" when his Labour party was in opposition.

- UK government 'ignoring us' -

But she said that since Labour came into government following the UK general election in July, it had been "hard to stay hopeful" as it felt like the government had been "ignoring us".

Fiona O'Brien, head of press freedom body Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said Abdel Fattah's situation reflected "a bigger problem" of the UK failing to support its citizens.

It would be "a total failure" if the UK government did not -- once again -- stand up for one of its citizens, she added.

In a 2019 interview with the show "60 Minutes" on US broadcaster CBS, Sisi said there were no political prisoners in Egypt.

The former army chief became president in 2014 after leading the military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi a year earlier.

He has since overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent.

Those jailed for criticising the political status quo have included academics, journalists, lawyers, activists, comedians, Islamists, presidential candidates and former MPs.

Rights group Amnesty International said Abdel Fattah should not be further detained after completing the full length of an "unjust prison term".

"He is a prisoner of conscience. He should never have been forced to spend a single minute behind bars," said Amnesty's researcher Mahmoud Shalaby.

"The prospect that the authorities could further extend his unlawful imprisonment instead of releasing him is appalling," he added.