Protesters recently gathered outside the Foreign Office in London to show their support for Alaa Abdel Fattah, a British-Egyptian activist who remains in jail despite serving his five-year sentence. Abdel Fattah, known for spreading news on social media about police brutality, was arrested in 2019 and sentenced in 2021. His family is calling for his release, as he holds British citizenship. Unfortunately, Egyptian authorities have refused to consider the two years he spent in pre-trial detention as part of his sentence, setting his release date for January 2027.
Abdel Fattah, a writer and programmer, has been a vocal critic of the government and has been in and out of prison since the 2011 uprising in Egypt. Rights groups estimate there are tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt facing poor conditions and abuse by authorities. Despite international appeals and concerns for his health, Abdel Fattah remains behind bars as the government continues to crackdown on dissent.