ALAA IS NOW A BRITISH CITIZEN, WRITE TO YOUR MP AND CALL FOR HIS RELEASE!

On April 2, 2022, and after years of unlawful imprisonment, mistreatment, and torture, Egyptian activist, blogger, and software developer Alaa Abd El-Fattah shaved his head and started a hunger strike on the first day of Ramadan. A few days later, on April 11, Alaa’s family announced that he had become a British citizen through his mother. On June 12, Alaa’s sister, Mona Seif, announced that she also started a hunger strike in support of her brother.

“I have to use my body as a portal to show people what’s happening to Alaa. I want them to see with their own eyes in every meeting I go to, whether in the British Embassy in Cairo, or the FCDO.” — Mona Seif

Four months into the hunger strike, the life and fate of Alaa are at stake. His health is rapidly and significantly deteriorating and he faces the risk of death unless the United Kingdom Foreign Office immediately intervenes for his protection and acts now to save his life.

Alaa was recently transferred to the new Wadi el-Natrun prison complex where he “slept on a mattress for the first time in years.” He also received books and writing materials, and was recently allowed time to exercise for the first time in almost three years. However, Alaa is yet- to receive a UK consular visit, is still denied the ability to communicate with his UK lawyers, and is still asking for a judge to investigate the complaints he and his family have filed over his unjust detention.

A central figure in technology and political activism in his country since the early 2000s, and a global voice during the Arab uprisings in the early 2010s, Egyptian authorities have attempted to silence Alaa through unlawful imprisonment for most of the last decade.

Alaa has faced all manner of torture and inhumane treatment, and his friends and family have been subject to harassment, intimidation, and even detainment themselves. His most recent sentencing does not account for the more than two years Alaa already spent in prison awaiting trial, confined to a small cell inside Cairo’s infamous Tora maximum security prison without a clock, books, or exercise, and only allowed out of his cell for court appearances and visitations. Alaa’s sentence ends on January 3, 2027.

Join us is calling on Egypt to #FreeAlaa, along with the thousands of other human rights defenders wrongfully detained in Egypt’s prisons.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

◈ Spread Alaa’s message ◈

Egyptian authorities have attempted to force Alaa into silence, but together we can ensure his voice is heard. You can support the work to #FreeAlaa by writing to your MP, purchasing his new book, “You Have Not Yet Been Defeated,” watching and sharing the virtual book reading, and using #FreeAlaa on social media to engage in conversation around Alaa’s vision.

ORDER ALAA’S BOOK

WATCH THE VIRTUAL READING

◈ Demand Alaa’s immediate release ◈

Join Access Now and our partners around the world in calling on Egypt’s leaders to immediately and unconditionally #FreeAlaa, along with the thousands of other detained activists and human rights defenders targeted for exercising their fundamental rights.

TWEET TO #FREEALAA

STAY INFORMED

Sign up for Access Now emails to stay up-to-date with Alaa’s case and for more opportunities to take action in defense of digital rights around the world.

Name
First Last
Email*
Country
Postal Code
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your info is secure with us.

ALAA’S STORY

Alaa has always been a vocal advocate for free speech. In 2006, he was jailed for taking part in a peaceful protest. A few months after the January 25th revolution in 2011, Alaa was forced to miss the birth of his son, as he was jailed and awaiting military trial. In 2013, he spent 115 days in jail without trial, which ended in a five-year sentence with an additional five-year probationary period. In 2019, Alaa was wrongfully re-arrested on allegations of spreading fake news and joining a terrorist organization. Since then, Alaa has been locked inside the maximum-security wing of Tora Prison. In December 2021, the activist was handed an absurd five years sentence on trumped up charges, with the years that he languished in prison while awaiting trial not counting toward time served.

CAMPAIGN UPDATES

Freedom of Expression

Freedom for human rights defender, Alaa Abdel Fattah #FreeAlaa

Access Now is calling to free Alaa Abdel Fattah, Egyptian activist and technologist, and immediately release him from arbitrary detention.

Covid-19

Open letter from Mona Seif, Egyptian human rights defender

This is an open letter from me asking for your solidarity and support. It is long, bear with me please. My name is Mona Seif, I am an Egyptian HRD.

Freedom of Expression

Family of jailed human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah attacked, sister detained

We call upon Egyptian authorities to immediately release Sanaa and Alaa and all the detained activists and human rights defenders who are being held for simply exercising their fundamental rights of assembly and freedom of expression.