Washington D.C. – Pen America, November 18, 2024
PEN America today called on the U.S. government to increase its diplomatic pressure on Egypt to secure the release of writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah, as he spends another birthday in prison for exercising his right to free expression.
The blogger, writer, and pro-democracy activist who mobilized Egyptians during the Arab Spring in 2011, El-Fattah has spent most of the past decade behind bars, and continues to be arbitrarily held despite completing his full sentence on September 29, 2024.
“We are appalled by the unjust and prolonged detention of Alaa Abd El-Fattah for his political activism and free expression and by the refusal of the Egyptian government to release him,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director, Writers at Risk, at PEN America. “Alaa has endured a decade of repetitive pre-trial detentions and months of hunger strike in protest against inhumane prison conditions; he has served his sentence. We urge the U.S. government to take stronger action in response to such abhorrent human rights violations, and to use their diplomatic influence to convince the Egyptian government to release Alaa.”
