Three Egyptian journalists announced on Monday (7) that they have started a hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoner Alaa Abdel Fatah, who was on hunger strike and quit drinking on Sunday.
“We stopped eating because Alaa Abdel Fatah is at risk of death,” Mona Selim, who protested the Cairo journalists union with Eman Ouf and Rasha Azab, told AFP.
The three are calling for “the release of all prisoners of conscience”, which number more than 60,000 in Egypt, according to NGOs.
Anglo-Egyptian Alaa Abdel Fatah had been drinking only a glass of tea and a spoonful of honey a day since the beginning of April. He stopped eating and drinking completely last Tuesday, Sunday, which coincided with the opening of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his case would be discussed at COP27, attended by his sister, Sanaa Seif, and spoke of a “priority”.
Activists present at COP27 published various posts on social networks under the brand #FreeAlaa, and many civil society figures ended their intervention with the phrase “You haven’t been defeated yet” (“You haven’t been defeated yet”, the title of Alaa’s book Abdel). Fatah with a foreword by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein.
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International (AI), insisted on Sunday that Abdel Fatah should be released as soon as possible. “There’s not much time left [antes que morra]72 hours maximum,” he said from Cairo.
A staunch foe of President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi’s regime, the activist was sentenced to five years in prison in late 2021 for “spreading false information” after spending most of the past decade behind bars.
According to AI, 766 prisoners of conscience have been released since Egypt reactivated its presidential amnesty commission in April, but 1,540 more have been detained.
“The President announced an attempt to end prisons on charges of expression, but the reality is the opposite,” said Selim.
Egypt ranks 168th out of 180 countries in the 2022 press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
source: Noticias
