CAIRO: Prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah may be released through a presidential pardon, the president’s office said.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday ordered relevant authorities to look into an appeal recently petitioned by the National Council for Human Rights-Egypt calling for the release of Abd el-Fattah along with six other convicted individuals, his office said in a statement.
The British-Egyptian dual national has been imprisoned in Egypt since September 2019. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 for spreading false news.
“This is really promising, we hope these authorities follow through with urgency and that Alaa will be reunited with us soon,” his sister, Sanaa Souief, said Tuesday in a post on X.
The National Council for Human Rights submitted a humanitarian appeal to the president Monday urging him to consider releasing Abd el-Fattah and others on humanitarian and health grounds after receiving requests from their families.
“This is in view of the critical family circumstances faced by their relatives,” the group’s appeal said. “Such a decision would represent a deeply significant moral incentive for the families of those mentioned and would substantially contribute to restoring their stability as well as their psychological and social balance.”
Abd el-Fattah, one of Egypt’s most prominent activists, first gained recognition during the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s rule. He has spent much of the past decade in prison and is viewed as emblematic of the country’s democratic backslide.
Abd el-Fattah should have been released last year but Egyptian authorities refused to count more than two years he spent in pre-trial detention and ordered him to be held until January 2027.
Tarek el-Awady, a human rights lawyer and member of the presidential pardon committee, told The Associated Press that Abd el-Fattah will be released within days and can instantly walk out of prison without additional release procedures.
“This is the first time the president orders authorities to look into this appeal after multiple local and international calls for his release,” el-Awady said, adding that the order came about a month after a court order removed Abd el-Fattah’s name from a terrorism list.
Abd el-Fattah’s detention prompted his mother, Laila Soueif, to begin a hunger strike on Sept. 29, which has left her seriously ill and frequently receiving treatment at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. She ended her hunger strike in July after multiple appeals from her family and members of the local and international communities over her deteriorating health.
The activist’s release would send a message that the government is responding to legitimate public demands, which emphasizes the country’s stability and strength, el-Awady said.
“This is the perfect opportunity to rebuild trust between citizens and the state,” el-Awady said. “Similar cases should be among the state’s priorities as this has an impact on Egypt internally and internationally.”
Imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah on list for presidential pardon and release
https://arab.news/gfpwj
Imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah on list for presidential pardon and release
- The British-Egyptian dual national has been imprisoned in Egypt since September 2019
- “This is really promising, we hope these authorities follow through with urgency and that Alaa will be reunited with us soon,” his sister, Sanaa Souief, said
Thousands of Gaza children suffer from famine conditions
- “The number of children admitted is five times higher than in February, so we need to see the numbers come down further”
GENEVA: Thousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase in humanitarian aid, the UN children’s agency said on Tuesday.
UNICEF, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, said that 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October, when the first phase of an agreement to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war came into effect.
FASTFACTS
• UNICEF, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, said that 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October. • While this is down from a peak of over 14,000 in August, the number is still significantly higher than during a brief February-March ceasefire.
While this is down from a peak of over 14,000 in August, the number is still significantly higher than during a brief February-March ceasefire and indicates that aid flows remain insufficient, UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram told a Geneva press briefing by video link from Gaza.
“It’s still a shockingly high number,” she said.
“The number of children admitted is five times higher than in February, so we need to see the numbers come down further.” Ingram described meeting underweight babies weighing less than 1 kilogram born in hospitals “their tiny chests heaving with the effort of staying alive.”
UNICEF is able to import considerably more aid into the enclave than it was before the October 10 agreement but obstacles remain, she said, citing delays and denials of cargoes at crossings, route closures and ongoing security challenges.
“We have seen some improvement, but we continue to call for all of the available crossings into the Gaza Strip to be open,” she added. There are not enough commercial supplies entering Gaza, she added, saying that meat was still prohibitively expensive at around $20 a kilogram.
“Most families can’t access this, and that’s why we’re still seeing high rates of malnutrition,” she said.
In August, a UN-backed hunger monitor determined that famine conditions were affecting about half a million people — or a quarter of Gaza’s population.
Children were severly affected by hunger as the war progressed, with experts warning that the effects could cause lasting damage.
