Status: 11/08/2022 4:05 p.m
Human rights activist Fattah has been on a hunger strike in Egypt for seven months. At the world climate conference, Chancellor Scholz has now demanded that the imprisoned activist be released.
At the World Climate Conference in Egypt, Chancellor Olaf Scholz campaigned for the release of the imprisoned democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. The chancellor addressed Fattah’s condition in a bilateral meeting with Egypt’s head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to a German government spokesman.
Scholz: “Very depressing”
Scholz called the activist’s situation “very depressing”. His condition is so serious “that we all have to fear that it will lead to very terrible consequences”. Other heads of state and government have also turned to the president about this, said the SPD politician.
Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for the government critic to be released on the fringes of the World Climate Conference.
Fattah has been on a hunger strike for months to protest his prison conditions. Since Sunday morning – the start of the world climate conference in his country – he has also been without water. According to his family, his life has been hanging by a thread ever since.
Fattah almost exclusively in prison since 2013
The UN human rights commissioner, Volker Türk, also called for Fattah’s immediate release. Türk has expressed his “deep regret” that the Egyptian authorities have not yet released the blogger and activist, said spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, in Geneva. “We are very concerned about his health.”
Fattah was one of the leading figures during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. Fattah played a key role in organizing the mass protests against long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak. In 2013 he was arrested and sentenced while protesting against a tightened demonstration law. Since then he has been in prison almost continuously.
COP27 President and Foreign Minister Samih Schukri told CNBC that Fattah’s hunger strike was a “personal decision”. Health care is available to him, like all other prisoners.