The family of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah announced on Friday that they have sought a presidential pardon for him amid mounting concerns about his health after a months-long hunger strike.
“Enclosed is the text of the clemency petition I filed today, which confirms my willingness to use any legal means available to guarantee a resolution to my brother’s crisis,” his sister Mona Seif wrote on Twitter.
It comes after the activist escalated a months-long hunger strike and stopped drinking water as the COP27 climate summit kicked off in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh last Sunday.
Egypt has granted presidential pardons to a total of 766 political prisoners since reactivating a pardons policy in April this year, according to Amnesty International.
But over the same period, almost twice as many have been jailed for their activism, Amnesty says.
On Thursday, the Egyptian prosecutor said the detained dissident’s “vital signs” were “normal” and that he “is in good health and does not require hospitalization,” amid growing concerns about his health.
His sister responded at the time, calling the prosecutor’s statements a “lie” and adding that the authorities had used violence to “deny” his hunger strike “so he wouldn’t die”.
Abdel Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, who has been trying to gain access to the prison where he is being held, was informed that “a medical procedure was performed with the knowledge of the legal authorities,” Seif wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden paid a lightning visit to Egypt on Friday as part of the UN’s COP27 climate talks and raised human rights issues in a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The White House had previously expressed “deep concern” about Abdel Fattah after the activist’s attorney said he was denied access to him despite being authorized by the Home Office for such a visit.
Abdel Fattah, a key figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak, is serving a five-year sentence for “spreading false news” by sharing a Facebook post about police brutality.
