“Abdel-Fattah has already served his prison sentence and his continued imprisonment is unlawful,” Egyptian MP Freddy al-Baiady told The New Arab.
An Egyptian lawmaker has called for redressing any law-enforcement mistakes, if any, in the case of imprisoned Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah to open the door for his release.
Freddy al-Baiady, a member of the House of Representatives (lower chamber of the Egyptian parliament), said Abdel-Fattah’s case raises what he described as “questions marks”.
“Abdel-Fattah has already served his prison sentence and his continued imprisonment is unlawful,” he told The New Arab.
Abdel-Fattah was a key figure of the 2011 uprising against longstanding Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
In September 2021, he was sentenced to five years in prison, along with two others, for “spreading false news”.
In 2022, Abdel-Fattah, 43, obtained British citizenship through his mother, Laila Souief, a veteran mathematician and a human rights campaigner.
His family was hoping that he would be released in September last year, after spending five years in jail, given the fact that he was on provisional detention two years before his 2021 trial.
Nevertheless, they were told by Egyptian authorities that he would only be released after he completes his sentence in 2027.
Enquiry
MP al-Baiady submitted an enquiry to the Egyptian prime minister, the minister of justice and the interior minister on 1 March about the reasons why Egyptian authorities have deferred Abdel-Fattah’s release, even as his sentence should have come to an end.
In his enquiry, MP al-Baiady, who is the deputy head of the leftist Social Democratic Party, said Abdel-Fattah should have been released in September 2024, especially with his record proving clear of legal infringements.
He cited Article 54 of the Egyptian Constitution, which bans the incarceration of people without an enquiry sanctioned by a court order.
He also cited Article 480 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which makes it necessary for prison authorities to release people indicted for law-breaking on the day that follows the end of their prison sentence.
“Consequently, Abdel-Fattah’s continued imprisonment is a blatant violation of the law,” al-Baiady said in his enquiry which he submitted to the parliament speaker on 1 March.
He also referred to what he described as the “critical” health condition of Abdel-Fattah’s mother.
Now, in Intensive Care, Suief, 68, has started a hunger strike over 150 days ago in protest against the continued incarceration of her son.
Her other children, Mona and Sanaa, talk about her deteriorating health condition, expressing fears that their mother might meet her fate, fighting for the freedom of her son with her empty stomach.
“I hope anybody will hear us and rescue my mother from getting lost in this bleak battle,” Abdel-Fattah’s sister, Mona, said in a video she posted to her Facebook page on February 25.
She said her family had sent a petition to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to pardon him.
A step forward
MP al-Baiady said he submitted the enquiry in line with his own principles and the law.
“I am mindful of the sensitive nature of this issue, but Abdel-Fattah is an Egyptian citizen who has legal rights,” he said.
He cited what he described as a “human dimension” to the enquiry he submitted to the prime minister, the minister of justice and the minister of the interior, namely the health condition of Abdel-Fattah’s mother.
“This woman is prone to death,” he said.
He noted that Abdel-Fattah’s case does harm to Egypt‘s image, even as he added that he is more concerned about the rights of Egyptian citizens.
Al-Baiady also expressed hopes that the authorities would reply to his enquiry practically, not in writing, including by righting mistakes in law-enforcement, if there are any.
This is the first time Abdel-Fattah’s case becomes part of debates inside the Egyptian legislature, filling some people with hope that it this development would encourage other lawmakers to follow in al-Baiady’s footsteps.
Presidential pardon
British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, raised Abdel-Fattah’s case during his recent phone conversation with President Sisi, according to the office of the British premier.
The British premier had pressed for Alaa’s release, having met his mother in recent weeks, Downing Street said on February 28.
This came almost a month after British Foreign Minister David Lammy, who said freeing Abdel-Fattah was his ministry’s “number one issue“, raised the same issue in discussions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
None of Abdel-Fattah’s sisters was available for immediate comment.
Nonetheless, those following news of the enquiry submitted by MP al-Baiady say the move complements others taken by local and international rights groups towards the same case in the past years.
Human rights lawyer, Negad al-Borai, called for amending the law that regulates provisional detention.
The amendments, he said, have to be made in a way that allows the prison authorities to knock the jail time people spend before their trial off their overall sentence after their trial.
Citing earlier confirmation by the Egyptian government that Abdel-Fattah would only be released in 2027, al-Borai called on President Sisi to pardon him for human considerations.
“What is needed now is a human gesture from the president regarding this case,” al-Borai told TNA.
