Time is running out for the Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah. He has already served nearly a decade in Egyptian prisons for the “high” crimes of organising political protests and retweeting a tweet about a prisoner who committed suicide after being tortured. This according to his mother who writes movingly below in the NYT that he could be given a new lifetime sentence on Monday. President Biden needs to call Egypt’s President Al-Sisi and demand his release. Trump once referred to Al-Sisi as his “ favourite dictator.” Egypt despite its atrocious record of human rights abuses has been the second highest recipient of U.S. military aid.
Alaa appeared in Cairo back in 2011 on an Al Jazeera English programme, The Cafe, that I helped to create. He was outspoken and brave in the midst of the Arab Spring. He must not be forgotten.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/opinion/alaa-abdel-fattah-egypt-political-prisoners.html?referringSource=articleShare
