The family of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdelfatá, in danger of death because of the hunger strike he has declared to denounce his detention, has formally requested for the second time a pardon to the President of Egypt, Abdelfatá al Sisi.
Mona Seif, sister of the activist, confirmed on her Twitter account the submission of a new request to «reaffirm the commitment to any legal avenue to resolve the fate» of her brother.
Abdelfatá’s life is in grave danger after seven months of hunger strike, according to his relatives, who claim that a team of doctors came to perform an «emergency intervention» on the detainee.
On Thursday, however, Egypt’s Prosecutor General’s Office assured that medical examinations carried out on Abdelfatah concluded that he was in good health. According to a statement reported by DPA, the Public Prosecutor’s Office assured that the tests carried out on him showed that his blood pressure, pulse, blood sugar level and temperature are «within normal levels».
Abdelfatá, now 40, was sentenced in December to five years in prison for spreading false news, a charge his family dismisses as politically motivated. Since then, international calls have multiplied recently for Egypt to release the activist, with U.S. President Joe Biden among the latest petitioners.
Egypt’s human rights record under the rule of the country’s current president, Abdelfatá Al Sisi, has generated international criticism amid a crackdown on dissidents.
Al Sisi took office in 2014, a year after the Army, then led by the now-ruler, deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests against his rule. Since then, thousands of secular and Islamist activists have been arrested.
