In a joint letter, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other press freedom and human rights organizations called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ramp up efforts to secure Egyptian-British writer Alaa 1 Abdelfattah 2 ’s release. Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade behind bars and now faces an additional two years in detention—despite Egyptian legal provisions 3 that should have ensured his release last September.
The letter highlights the urgency of Abdelfattah’s case as he began 4 a hunger strike in prison on March 1, 2025. His 69-year-old mother, Laila Soueif—a respected Egyptian professor—conducted a hunger strike for more than 150 days, which led 5 to severe health deterioration and hospitalization.
On March 4, CPJ led 6 another joint letter, signed by 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, writers, and public figures, calling on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to Abd El Fattah.
Read the full letter in here 7 .
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists 8 and was authored by CPJ Staff.