"Imprisoned activist’s lawyer denied access at Egyptian jail during climate summit – as it happened", 10 Nov 2022

Khaled Ali, the lawyer of the imprisoned hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah, has said he went to the prison where his client was being held but was denied access to visit him. Ali has been unable to get access to see Abd el-Fattah since early 2020, when the British-Egyptian democracy activist was detained without charge after a spate of anti-corruption demonstrations in Egypt. The veteran human rights lawyer and former Egyptian presidential candidate said earlier today he was suddenly informed by Egypt’s public prosecutor that his repeated requests to visit his client had been granted, and he immediately set off for the desert prison two hours outside of Cairo. When he arrived, he said he was told by guards that the prosecutor’s permission dated from last night, and that he was required to have permission to enter from the same day. Abd el-Fattah was sentenced last year for “spreading false news” after sharing a social media post about torture... After six months on hunger strike, Abd el-Fattah told his family he would stop drinking water on the day that Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh began...