British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah is being illegally detained in Egypt and should be released immediately, United Nations investigators have said.
In a ruling from the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), a panel of independent human rights experts found that Egyptian authorities have an obligation to release Mr Fattah immediately under international law.
In a legal opinion shared with Mr Fattah’s lawyers, UNWGAD requested that the Egyptian government “take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr Abd el-Fattah without delay”.
The panel said: “The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr Abd el-Fattah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.”
Mr Fattah has spent most of the last decade in prison. He has been detained in Egypt since 29 September 2019, and in 2021 was handed an “unjust” five-year prison sentence for sharing a social media post, according to Amnesty International.
He was due to be released last September, but has remained in custody.
The UNWGAD panel said Mr Fattah’s continued imprisonment was illegal on four different grounds: the lack of a warrant at the time of his arrest, and lack of reasons for his arrest; being arrested for exercising freedom of expression; the lack of a fair trial; and the fact his detention was discriminatory, due to his political views.
Mr Fattah’s lawyer Can Yeginsu said: “The UN Working Group has delivered a clear and unequivocal decision: Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s detention is arbitrary and in breach of international law. Egypt is now obligated to release Alaa immediately.”
Mr Yeginsu said the British government now must take action to free Mr Fattah.
“With Alaa’s continued detention now confirmed as illegal under international law, we are calling on the British government to take Egypt to the International Court of Justice for breach of the Vienna Convention,” he said.
“For too long now, the Egyptian regime has withheld access to a British citizen that they are holding illegally and it cannot be allowed to stand.”
Last week, 100 MPs urged Sir Keir Starmer to “deploy every tool” available to help free Mr Fattah, who at the time had been on hunger strike for more than 80 days.
The cross-party group of parliamentarians argued in a letter that Mr Fattah was a “political prisoner” who should have been released last year, and added he has been “acutely unwell” in prison.
Mr Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, has been on a hunger strike since her son’s sentence was meant to end.
“We are requesting an urgent update on progress, given the serious risks both to his health and that of his mother Laila Soueif, who has been on hunger strike in support of him since September 2024,” the letter said.
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