Politicians call on Sisi to release Alaa Abd El Fattah

A group of politicians, party representatives and public figures have called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to release detained activist, writer and software developer Alaa Abd El Fattah.

The group launched their appeal on Monday at the home of academic and activist Laila Soueif, who has been on hunger strike for 127 days to demand the release of her son.

During the conference, which Mada Masr attended, attendees signed a statement recited by the family’s lawyer, Khaled Ali.

Ali emphasized that the call came out of urgent concern for Soueif’s life, as "medical reports indicate she is on the brink of death.”

A foreign diplomatic source told Mada Masr that Egyptian officials have denied that Soueif is on hunger strike.

The statement read at Monday evening’s presser said that moving to release those who were imprisoned because of their views, including Abd El Fattah, would not merely be a humanitarian response, but "a strategic decision that would foster a more conciliatory political climate." 

Addressing Sisi, the statement read: "Wise judgment dictates decisions that build trust, and we are confident that you understand the significance and positive implications of such a step."

Ali argued that there are grounds for Abd El Fattah’s release on the basis that his custodial term should have come to an end in September last year.

The courts have rejected an appeal that Ali filed to demand the release.

The foreign diplomat said that Egyptian officials say Abd El Fattah’s term of imprisonment will not end until 2027 on the grounds that the two years he spent in remand detention before he received a sentence were in connection with a separate case and therefore do not count toward his prison term.

The family of Abd El Fattah, who was previously imprisoned in 2015 before being detained again while on probation in 2020, have expressed concern that authorities will continue to find reasons to keep their relative in prison beyond the 2027 release date.

Several attendees on Monday evening, including prominent Civil Democratic Movement member Hamdeen Sabbahi, noted that a political consensus emerged for Abdel Fattah’s release during the early stages of the National Dialogue in 2022, something that he said indicates that the issue is “resolved in principle and not insurmountable.”

While some political detainees — such as Ahmed Douma, Ziad Elelaimy and Hossam Moanes — were eventually freed in the wake of the dialogue launch, releases then came to a halt. Sabbahi stressed that the movement remains committed to knocking on every door possible despite "poor communication.”

Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, likewise said that the call for Abd El Fattah’s release would continue despite the stalled releases. He dismissed the notion that external pressure should dictate the fate of prisoners of conscience, asserting that "their release is imperative under all circumstances."

"We agreed to make this appeal on purely humanitarian grounds," said Gameela Ismail, leader of the Dostour Party, underscoring that this was yet another attempt after multiple efforts to push for the same demand.

Conservative Party head Akmal Kortam, meanwhile, emphasized that the demand is also "a legal one and a matter of justice that must be upheld," pointing to "the widespread injustice in this country."

Akram Ismail, head of political affairs at the Bread and Freedom Party, expressed "deep personal pain" that Soueif had to go to such extremes as “risking her life” in the fight for her son’s freedom.

Speaking to the gathering via video-call from London, Soueif described her hunger strike as a means to create a deliberate crisis for both the British and Egyptian governments — since both she and Alaa hold dual citizenship —"to force them to act." She reaffirmed her commitment to continuing her hunger strike "until Alaa is released or my health completely collapses. In the worst-case scenario, my life will be the price for my children’s lives. But I hope for the best scenario."

Abd El Fattah’s family have escalated their calls for his release since September, which marked the passage of five years that he spent in detention. 

He was arrested in 2020 and held in remand detention for two years before being convicted by an emergency state security court of spreading false news that threatened national security.

Prior to that, he had served five years for protesting without a permit in the years following the January 25 Revolution.

The public prosecutor rejected the family’s request to have Abd El Fattah’s remand detention counted toward his sentence and his emergency court sentence was ultimately ratified. 

When he was not released in September, Soueif began a full hunger strike in protest. She later traveled to the United Kingdom, where she has continued holding daily demonstrations outside the British government headquarters, urging intervention with Egyptian authorities to secure her son’s release.

Abd El Fattah’s family has submitted repeated requests for the grant of a presidential pardon, most recently in December. Rights groups have also made appeals, while nearly 500 women recently signed a petition urging Entisar al-Sisi, Egypt’s first lady, to intervene and save Soueif’s life by securing her son’s release.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent a letter to Abd El Fattah’s family days ago, reaffirming his commitment to working "at all levels of government" to secure his release. He noted that he had raised the issue in his first call with Sisi. "I believe progress is possible, but it will take time," he wrote, after emphasizing that the final decision rests with Egyptian authorities.