Solidarity with political prisoners in Egypt

We condemn the arrest and detention of Hisham Fouad on 25 June by Egypt’s military regime in a fresh crackdown on its opponents. Hisham is a well-known labour journalist and activist in the Egyptian Journalists’ Union, whose work has consistently focused on mobilising support for the workers’ movement. Along with 8 other people, including former Egyptian Social Democratic Party MP Ziyad al-Alimi, Hisham is accused of taking part in an “economic conspiracy” against the state. This follows the re-arrest of Haitham Mohamedain, who was detained on 13 May without access to a lawyer. Haitham was detained in May 2018 on charges of inciting protests over massive rises in public transport fares and released in October 2018 on bail. He is a labour lawyer who has represented hundreds of workers who have been arrested on picket lines or faced court hearing as a result of victimisation by their bosses. Hisham and Haitham are some of an estimated 50,000 political prisoners who are being held in Egypt’s overcrowded and unsanitary prison system, where abuse is rife. We call for the immediate release of Hisham and Haitham, the withdrawal of any charges against them, and the release of all other political prisoners in Egypt.

Initial signatories include: (for a full list scroll down)
Read more on the background and download resources and a model motion here

Michelle Stanistreet General Secretary, National Union of Journalists (NUJ),  Sian Jones NUJ, President, Mark Serwotka General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and TUC president, Kevin Courtney Joint General Secretary, National Education Union (NEU) Jane Loftus President, Communication Workers Union (CWU) Lesley McCorrigan, UCU National Executive Committee, Elaine White, UCU National Executive Committee; Sandy Nicoll Unison National Executive Committee (pc), Dr Sara Abdelgalil, President, Sudan Doctors’ Union – UK, Ilan Pappé Author of On Palestine Nur Masalha Author of Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History

Names will be published online and sent to the Egyptian Embassy in the UK. If you leave your details we will contact you with updates about this campaign and other similiar campaigns organised by Egypt Solidarity Initiative and MENA Solidarity Network.

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Please note names will not appear automatically. The names below are a subset of signatures that have already been collected.