Democratic lawmakers press Egypt to release jailed activist
Fourteen US lawmakers are calling for the release of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a jailed activist on hunger strike in Egypt.
A group of Democratic lawmakers penned a letter Friday expressing solidarity with British members of parliament who are pushing Egypt to release Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent activist on hunger strike who has spent most of the past decade in prison.
Abdel-Fattah was a key protest figure in the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After spending more than two years in pre-trial detention, an emergency court handed Abdel-Fattah a five-year prison sentence in December 2021 for “broadcasting false news” following a trial that rights groups described as grossly unfair.
