Dear Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Secretary of State Antony Blinken,

On May 31st Alaa Abd el-Fattah marked 60 days of being on hunger strike, in an act of peaceful resistance that it is feared may be his last.

We, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the continued detention of British-Egyptian writer and human rights defender Alaa Abd el-Fattah. We call upon you to use all diplomatic power to leverage the importance of your strategic relationships with Egypt to secure his immediate release.

As public intellectuals, artists, and human rights defenders, we are appalled to see the inhumane treatment of Alaa, whom we consider a peer, as he continues to be held arbitrarily in Egyptian prison. Mr. Abd el-Fattah, who has a ten year old son, has spent eight of these last ten years wrongfully detained. Most recently, he was sentenced to five years in prison for sharing a Facebook post. It was a trial that lacked even the most basic markers of justice, and that took place in a State Security Emergency Court whose rulings cannot be appealed and can only be commuted by the President.

Sadly, Alaa’s case is part of a wider pattern. Egypt has embarked on a years-long crackdown that has seen tens of thousands disappeared, detained, and tortured, including journalists, human rights defenders, scholars, artists, and thinkers.

After enduring two and a half years with no access to books, a radio, sunshine, or exercise, Alaa began an open ended hunger strike on April 2nd, in protest at the conditions in which he is being held and to demand his right to UK consular access. Thus far his right as a British citizen has been denied, and this sets an alarming precedent that must be turned back. But it is the bare minimum. He must be released.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s detention has been widely condemned by leading human rights organisations including Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, PEN International and Reporters Without Borders. The Washington Post Editorial Board has called for his freedom. His case was highlighted in a recent bi-partisan resolution in Congress, and a cross-party letter calling for urgent diplomatic intervention was sent last week to the Foreign Secretary signed by over thirty members of the UK Parliament.

We need urgent intervention so that he can return to his family and son. We ask that you use all diplomatic leverage to immediately seek Alaa's freedom.

Respectfully,

Abdulrazzak Gurnah
Ahdaf Soueif
Alexandra Pringle
Amr Waked
Anne Washburn
Angela Davis
Audra McDonald
Ben Okri
Bill Nighy
Carey Mulligan
Caroline Moorehead
Carrie Coon
Cat Villiers
Christine Tohme
Colum McCann
Cynthia Nixon
Dame Judi Dench
David Lan
Dan Stevens
Dave Eggers
Ellie Mae O’Hagan
Emma Thompson
Emily Watson
Esther Freud
Gareth Evans
Gillian Slovo
Isabella Hammad
Jack Shenker
Jasmila Zbanic
Jasmine Trinca
Jillian C York
Joachim Trier
Jodhi May
Joseph Fiennes
Joslyn Barnes
Kamila Shamsie
Khaled Hosseini
Khalid Abdalla
Laila Lalami
Laleh Khalili
Lillian Wagdy
Linda Emond
Mariam Abou Ouf
Marina Warner
Mark Ruffalo
Michael Ondaatje
Michael Hoffman
Mike Leigh
Mirza Waheed
Molly Crabapple
Morgan Spector
Nancy Kricorian
Nathan Lane
Naomi Klein
Noomi Rapace
Olivia Colman
Olivia Hetreed
Omar Robert Hamilton
Orwa Nyrabia
Paul Greengrass
Paul Mason
Peter Webber
Philippe Sands
Prasanna Puwanarajah
Rania Stephan
Rasha Salti
Rebecca Hall
Richard Ratcliffe
Riz Ahmed
Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Sarah Rifky
Sharif Abdel Kouddous
Sepideh Moafi
Simon Jones
Simon McBurney
Stellan Skarsgård
Steve McQueen
Stephen Fry
Susanna White
Susannah Clapp
Tala Hadid
Victoria Adukwei Bulley
Victoria Brittain
Yanis Varoufakis
Yasmine El Rashidi
Amongst over a thousand others.