Hunger striker's sister arrives in Egypt to campaign for his release

The sister of an Egyptian-British hunger striker landed in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to campaign for his release from jail as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other world leaders flew in for the COP27 climate summit. Abd el-Fattah rose to prominence during Egypt's 2011 popular uprising but has been detained for most of the period since.

The sister of an Egyptian-British hunger striker landed in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to campaign for his release from jail as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other world leaders flew in for the COP27 climate summit.

Abd el-Fattah rose to prominence during Egypt's 2011 popular uprising but has been detained for most of the period since. Sentenced most recently in December 2021 to five years on charges of spreading false news, he has been on hunger strike for 220 days against his detention and prison conditions. Sunak said on Monday that he had raised Abd el-Fattah's case with Egypt's president and that he hoped to see the issue resolved as soon as possible. Abd el-Fattah had informed his family that he would stop drinking water on Sunday in an escalation of his protest.

"I don't know if we're talking about hours or days, I'm really, really scared," said Sanaa Seif, Abd el-Fattah's sister, who arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh in the early hours of Monday. She said she had come to the summit "to be a kind of physical, embarrassing reminder of my brother, who is right now dying, both for the British authorities and the Egyptian authorities.

"I'm just worried it may be too late," she added. "I imagine this is something that should have been resolved before the prime minister ever set foot in Egypt." Egyptian officials have not responded to Reuters phone calls for comment on Abd el-Fattah's case. They said previously that he was receiving meals. Pro-government figures have rejected foreign criticism over his treatment.

Asked about the case, Egyptian Foreign Minister and COP27 President Sameh Shoukry told CNBC prison authorities would provide Abd el-Fattah with healthcare. "This is a matter of personal choice, and again it is dealt with within the penal system, within the rules and regulations that govern it," he said.

Abd el-Fattah's family said he was only consuming minimal calories and some fibre to sustain himself earlier in the year, and that he is very frail. The family say Egyptian officials have declined to recognise his British citizenship, which the family announced earlier this year he had obtained through his mother, who was born in London.

Shoukry appeared to confirm that position, saying: "The Egyptian law has a process and procedure to recognise the bestowing of dual nationality on what is originally Egyptian citizenship, and that process has not as yet been fulfilled." Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was also at COP27, said on Monday he had pressed for consular access and for Abd el-Fattah's release when he was still in office.

"I raised it most recently, personally with President (Abdel Fattah al-) Sisi just a few weeks ago when I was still prime minister... President Sisi did seem to me to be open to discussion," Johnson said. Some rights campaigners have criticised the decision for Egypt to host COP27, citing Cairo's long crackdown on political dissent in which rights groups say tens of thousands have been detained. They have also raised concern over access and space for protests at the United Nations climate talks.

Sisi has said security measures were needed to stabilise Egypt after the 2011 uprising. Egypt is hoping to raise its diplomatic profile by hosting the climate talks.

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