The family of Alaa Abdel Fattah rejects the assurances of the prosecution on his health

Egyptian authorities said on Thursday that the Egyptian-British political detainee Alaa Abdel Fattah was in “good health”, without convincing his family who said he was in danger of death after seven months of hunger strike and continues to demand his release. Echoing other Western countries, the United States, whose President Joe Biden is due to meet his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi on Friday at COP27 in Egypt, expressed their “deep concern” about Alaa Abdel Fattah and called for his release.

For several days, the detainee’s relatives have said they fear that he will be force-fed after seven months of swallowing only a glass of tea and a spoonful of honey a day before stopping to eat a week ago and then drink Sunday at the opening of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. In a statement, the Egyptian prosecutor’s office said that “all the vital signs” of the pro-democracy blogger “are normal” and that he “does not need to be transferred to a hospital”. He even went so far as to “question” his hunger strike.

” Lying ! “, replied his sister Mona Seif on Facebook. “They’re going to say he’s not on a hunger strike, get him back on his feet in secret so he doesn’t die at their hands and they won’t let anyone see him. On Thursday, when Alaa Abdel Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, showed up for the fourth time this week outside her prison 100 kilometers from Cairo, she was turned away by officers. They told him that his son was undergoing “medical treatment” and that “the prosecution had been informed”. But not the family or their lawyers, accuses Mona Seif.

“Forced Fed”

For Hossam Bahgat, an Egyptian human rights defender, “this means that he is being force-fed”. The family had glimpsed hope when the prosecutor’s office summoned his lawyer, Khaled Ali, in the morning to issue him a visiting permit. But the latter, dated Wednesday evening, was refused by the prison, according to the lawyer. Later Khalid Ali urged Sisi to grant “a presidential pardon to Alaa Abdel Fattah” and other prisoners of conscience. “The authorities (…) cannot give in to anger or revenge. »

Interrupted for years, presidential pardons resumed in 2022. More than 750 detainees have benefited from them. But almost twice as many were arrested at the same time according to Amnesty International. The NGO Human Rights Watch described as “cruel, inhuman and degrading” medical treatment “imposed” on the detainee. Force-feeding someone is considered “torture” under international law.

Icon of the 2011 revolution in Egypt which ousted Hosni Mubarak from power – a popular movement denounced by Sissi – Alaa Abdel Fattah, who will turn 41 on November 18, was arrested at the end of 2019. He was sentenced to five years in prison for spreading “false information” after reposting on Facebook a text, written by another, accusing an officer of torture.

On Thursday, hundreds of COP27 participants in Sharm el-Sheikh, dressed in white like Egyptian prisoners, chanted “Free them all!” in reference to the more than 60,000 political detainees in Egypt according to NGOs.

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