Arguably the most well-known political prisoner in the Arab world is Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a computer programmer and activist who was imprisoned for distributing false information and jeopardizing national security. He became well-known for his activism and writing on opposing authoritarianism, and he played a significant role in the 2011 revolution in Egypt that toppled the former tyrant, Hosni Mubarak. You Have Not Been Defeated, a compilation of reflections and essays, was largely written while incarcerated and smuggled out by friends. “The authorities want to use us as an example, which is why I’m in prison. Let’s set an example, but it will be our own. He wrote in one, “Let’s set an example rather than issue a warning.
Britain’s forgotten prisoners abroad
Although Abd el-Fattah has served lengthy jail sentences, he was last arrested in 2019 when prominent activists were arrested during anti-government demonstrations. In December 2021, Egypt’s interim state security court condemned him to five years in prison for publishing a Facebook post criticizing human rights abuses, following two years of detention without trial. Since then, his family claims he has been denied access to sunshine, fresh air, proper clothes, and personal things at Cairo’s Wadi al-Natrun jail. He has been refused consular visits even after obtaining UK citizenship in 2021 through his mother, who was born in the UK. Although the authorities decided that the two years he spent in pre-trial incarceration would not qualify as time served, his family had anticipated that he would be freed in September of this year. A hunger strike has been started by his mother. Mona Seif, his sister, feels that Abdel Farrah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, has personal animosity for him. 15 British and Egyptian NGOs wrote to the UK Foreign Office last month, urging it to maintain business links with Egypt while Abd el-Fattah is still in prison. last is something that the foreign secretary, David Lammy, supported during his opposition.
Five men, two nations, one cry for help
They mention a British-Egyptian investment conference and remind us that Egypt is working to attract fresh British investment, with investors and top politicians traveling to the UK. Lai had spent nearly four years in a Hong Kong prison cell. The pro-democracy activist and media tycoon was detained in 2020 on suspicion of involvement in the city’s tumultuous 2019 public demonstrations. He was detained once again later that year when national security officials stormed Apple Daily, the journal he started. They charged Lai with violating the national security statute that year by conspiring with foreign troops. He has been referred to by the Chinese authorities as a “mastermind and instigator of anti-China riots.” The arrest of British real estate entrepreneur Ryan Cornelius at Dubai airport occurred more than 16 years ago. His family is incensed by the UK government’s handling of his situation, and he is now 70. Cornelius was given a 10-year prison term in the United Arab Emirates after being accused of defrauding the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) in 2010. Based on a UAE rule that was introduced after his first punishment, he was given a further 20-year term two months prior to his 2018 release date, until $430 million in claimed debt was paid. Cornelius had been making payments on a $500 million DIB loan prior to his arrest. Cornelius had business ventures in Bahrain, Dubai, and Pakistan.
From Egypt to India: calls for justice
Mehran Raoof was taken into custody in Tehran in October 2020. The British-Iranian labor rights campaigner and trade unionist was found guilty of national security-related offenses the next year and given a sentence of more than ten years in jail. Prior to his detention, the former north London teacher had split his time between Iran and the UK, teaching English, meeting other women’s rights and labor activists, and assisting them with translating materials into and out of English. In 2017, Jagtar Singh Johal, a Sikh blogger and activist from Dumbarton, Scotland, was detained while in the Punjab during a wedding. He is charged with helping to fund the Khalistan Liberation Front and committing the killings of three far-right Hindu leaders. He was charged with knowing that £3,000 would be used to finance a slew of attacks on Hindu nationalists and other religious leaders in Punjab when he traveled to France in 2013 to provide the money to a co-conspirator.
The struggle of jailed Britons overseas
A United Nations working group said in November 2021 that Johal, who is currently 37, had been detained due to his Sikh advocacy. Starmer stated in February 2023 that the government needed to take strong action to negotiate Johal’s release because there was no legal justification for his arrest. Gurpreet Singh Johal, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal, claimed that his brother was not a militant but rather a nonviolent activist who had contributed to a website commemorating the 1984 slaughter at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.