Egypt: Urgent call for justice for Alaa Abdelfattah and solidarity with Dr. Laila Soueif
Front Line Defenders expresses deep concern over the prolonged detention of human rights defender Alaa Abdelfattah and stands in unwavering solidarity with his mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, in her hunger strike, which she began on 30 September 2024, demanding his immediate release.
Alaa Abdelfattah is an Egyptian human rights defender, writer, and software developer who has been a key figure in the Egyptian revolutionary movement. He is known for his advocacy for free speech and social justice, and he gained prominence during the 2011 revolution. Alaa Abdelfattah has faced repeated imprisonment for his human rights work. He was arrested in 2019 under Case No. 1356 of 2019, charged with spreading false news and later sentenced for sharing a post about a prisoner’s death under torture. Despite completing five years in detention, authorities extended his sentence until 2027. In 2024, he was awarded the PEN Writer of Courage prize.
Alaa Abdelfattah has been a central figure in the Egyptian revolutionary movement, advocating for free speech and social justice before and after the 2011 revolution. Despite reaching the end of his five-year sentence in September 2024, Egyptian authorities have improperly modified the execution period, setting its official start date to 3 January 2022, thereby extending his unjust imprisonment until 2027. His lawyer, human rights defender Khaled Ali, has denounced this arbitrary decision.
Alaa Abdelfattah’s case is emblematic of Egypt’s widespread crackdown on human rights defenders and others who exercise dissent. He comes from a family of long-standing activists, his father, the late Ahmed Seif El-Islam, was a renowned human rights lawyer, while his mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, and his sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, have played key roles in Egypt’s human rights movement. Throughout his detentions, Alaa Abdelfattah has endured severe reprisals.
Dr. Laila Soueif, a prominent woman human rights defender and professor of mathematics at Cairo University, has been a relentless advocate for her son and for the broader fight for justice in Egypt. Her hunger strike joined by the Australian journalist Peter Greste among other, is the latest in a long series of protests against Alaa Abdelfattah’s unlawful imprisonment. In September 2024,after his scheduled release date was improperly modified, she took her campaign to the UK Foreign Office in Westminster, marking each day of her son’s detention in chalk outside 10 Downing Street. Today marks Dr. Laila Soueif’s 138th day of total hunger strike, raising grave concerns about her health and emphasizing the urgency of her situation.
Alaa Abdelfattah’s continued detention and Dr. Laila Soueif’s critical protest against her son’s long imprisonment reflect the systematic targeting of human rights defenders in Egypt. In late 2024, his family submitted a presidential pardon request, backed by prominent politicians, while solidarity campaigns continue inside and outside the country.
Front Line Defenders calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Alaa Abdelfattah and urges Egyptian authorities to cease the persecution of human rights defenders.
