Paris – Reporters Without Borders, September 25, 2024
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release British-Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, who on 29 September will have spent five years in arbitrary detention – the full term of his sentence for a trumped-up charge of “spreading false news”.
Abdel Fattah, a leading voice in the protests that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, was handed a five-year sentence in December 2021, but had already spent more than two years in jail awaiting trial. Under international legal norms and Egypt’s own criminal code, his pre-trial detention should be deducted from his sentence and he should be freed this weekend, but there has been no indication that will happen. His lawyers fear he will be kept in prison until January 2027, five years after the ratification of his sentence, instead of five years after his arrest.
Alaa Abdel Fattah must be immediately freed and guaranteed safe passage to the United Kingdom to be reunited with his son. His trial was manifestly unjust, his imprisonment has been arbitrary, and now he has done his time: every additional day he spends in prison will be a sign of Egypt’s complete disregard for the rule of law, and of the failure of the UK government to defend and protect its citizen despite the blatant abuse of his human rights. If Egypt extends his detention beyond 29 September, the UK must use all available diplomatic means to secure his release and reunite him with his family.
Fiona O’Brien
UK Bureau Director, RSF
