At the World Climate Conference in Egypt, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Head of State Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the release of the imprisoned democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. Other heads of state and government have also approached the president about this, said the SPD politician on Tuesday in Sharm el Sheikh.
Abdel Fattah was one of the leading figures during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. He has been on a hunger strike for months to protest his prison conditions. And since Sunday morning he has also been without water – at the same time as the start of the world climate conference in the country. According to his family, his life has been hanging by a thread ever since. Scholz said: “It is depressing to see that human life is at risk.”
Abdel Fattah played a key role in organizing the mass protests against long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak. In 2013 he was arrested and sentenced while protesting against a tightened demonstration law. Since then he has been in prison almost continuously.
