Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network supports the campaign to #FreeAlaa and all political prisoners in Egyptian prisons. Alaa Abdel-Fattah is a longtime activist and blogger and struggler for the Egyptian people – and for Palestine. In fact, he has been denied awards by the EU and attacked at an international level while facing Egyptian state repression because of his support for the Palestinian people and their right to resist occupation and oppression.
The campaign to Free Alaa is highlighting the case of this jailed struggler from 24 September to 19 October; on 19 October, the appeal hearings will begin in the “Shoura Council” case, in which Alaa and other activists were found guilty of protesting outside the Shoura Council building in November 2013 after peaceful protesters against military trials were attacked with massive police brutality and violence. Alaa was sentenced to five years in prison, of which he has served three and a half; the case is now being appealed to Egypt’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
In addition, Abdel-Fattah is also facing allegations of “insulting the judiciary” in a case that will come to trial in December; he is threatened with a fine and more years in maximum security prison. His release has been called for by dozens of human rights groups including the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and his trial was judged unfair by Euromed Rights.
