Sister of Briton on hunger strike in Egypt warns Sunak of ‘blood on his hands’

The sister of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a British citizen who will start a water strike in jail in Egypt this weekend, has warned Rishi Sunak and world leaders they will have ‘blood on their hands’ if they do not intervene to free her brother while attending Cop27 next week.Mr Sunak has announced he will participate in the United Nations climate conference which will take place in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh in his first diplomatic visit as premier.Sanaa Seif called on Mr Sunak to work to free her brother, saying no action ‘will be interpreted as a green light to kill [Alaa]’ right as he is on his first major trip abroad.The unlawful jailing of Mr Abdel-Fattah, a writer and an activist, has sparked uproar around the world.Prominent figures like Greta Thunberg, 15 Nobel Laureates including Annie Ernaux this year’s Nobel Prize Literature winner, celebrities including Emma Thompson and dozens of members of parliament and peers have called for his freedom.’I will be going to attend the UN climate conference COP27 myself, as Alaa escalates his hunger strike, as he stops taking water, as world leaders head to Egypt to attend COP27. I want to tell these officials, that if you don’t save him, you will have blood on your hands,’ Ms Seif said after ending a two week sit-in out side the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London.’I want to call on Rishi Sunak to intervene. You’re going there, you’re going to meet with [Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah] Sisi, you’re going to be in the same country as a British citizen who is dying, and if you don’t show that you care, then that will be interpreted as a green light to kill him. My brother can be saved.’Mr Abdel-Fattah’s family said he started a full hunger strike on Tuesday and plans to start denying himself water as of November 6, the first day of the international climate conference.His family has expressed fears that without water he will die before the conference concludes on November 18.Mr Abdel-Fattah, is an outspoken dissident and a British citizen who rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak.The 40-year-old activist spent most of the past decade behind bars and his detention has become a symbol of Egypt’s return to autocratic rule.President Sisi, the country’s former army chief, stormed to power in 2014 after overseeing the military overthrow of his democratically elected predecessor – Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed Morsi.Since then, rights groups including Human Rights Watch have said hundreds of anti-government protesters have been killed and tens of thousands jailed in a sweeping crackdown on freedom.Mr Abdel-Fattah, who has a seven-year old son he has been unable to see for year, is currently serving his latest five-year sentence – which the peers and MPs labelled ‘unlawful’ in a letter sent to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly this week. Mr Abdel-Fattah was convicted on charges of spreading false news after he shared social media posts that were critical of terrible prison conditions under the military-backed regime.On Wednesday 15 winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature urged world leaders to raise human rights issues as they visit Egypt for the Cop27 climate change conference.In particular, they asked Mr Abdel-Fattah’s case to be raised.Ms Seif with her sister Mona met the foreign secretary on Wednesday after weeks of staging a sit-in outside the FCDO office.After the meeting Mr Cleverly said ‘We will continue to work tirelessly for his release’. The Foreign Office has so far declined to reveal what exact steps they are taking.In frustration and concerned for the wellbeing of her brother, Ms Seif said she will attend COP27.’I will be there as a reminder to everyone who is complicit in killing my brother and the injustice against my family,’ she said.