In mid-August, Alaa Eladly, who has lived in Germany for more than 30 years, was arrested in Egypt. Now he was surprisingly released from prison – shortly after Chancellor Scholz traveled to Cairo for talks.
The father of the German-Egyptian Fagr Eladly, who was imprisoned in Egypt, is free again. According to relatives, Alaa Eladly was released from prison on Thursday without further explanation.
The 59-year-old biochemist from Wiesbaden was arrested at Cairo airport two months ago when he entered Egypt and then imprisoned. His family was not informed of his whereabouts for two days.
Daughter went on hunger strike
Eladly only has an Egyptian passport, not a German one – he is the only one in his family. His daughter Fagr publicly insulted Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a “murderer” during his first state visit to Berlin eight years ago, thereby causing an international stir. Shortly after her father’s arrest, the young doctor traveled to Cairo, went on hunger strike and fought for his release using all legal means.
Eladly was allowed to leave prison shortly after Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Egyptian President al-Sisi in Cairo. According to international human rights organizations, tens of thousands of people are imprisoned for political reasons in Egypt – many without charge or conviction. The number of prisons in Egypt increased dramatically during al-Sisi’s rule.