Key facts
- British-Egyptian woman Eman el-Shazly arrested in Cairo on August 16.
- Lawyers claim her detention is to silence her sister, Mona, a critic of the Egyptian government.
- Eman's two brothers are also imprisoned in Egypt.
- The UK Foreign Office has confirmed Eman is being held at the Ramadan rehabilitation centre.
- The UK government has previously acknowledged Egypt's practice of 'punishment by proxy'.
The UK Foreign Office has been urged to intervene in the case of Eman el-Shazly, a British-Egyptian woman arrested in Cairo on August 16. Her lawyers assert that her detention is a tactic by the Egyptian government to silence her sister, Mona, who is a prominent critic of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's administration and its alleged corruption, particularly within security services and public utilities.
Eman, a 45-year-old Birmingham resident, traveled to Egypt two months prior to care for her ill mother, following the arrest of her two brothers, Hassan and Eid, who have spent three years in jail and were rearrested in May. Their charges include promoting terrorist organization ideas on social media and broadcasting false news detrimental to state security. The UK Foreign Office has confirmed Eman's detention at the Ramadan rehabilitation centre, noting her case shares a file number with her brothers.
Lawyer Arfan Rashid, representing Eman's husband Zeesharn Moustapha, stated that Eman has no political involvement and that ample evidence suggests her arrest is intended to silence Mona. Rashid highlighted that Eman had informed security officials she was no longer in contact with her sister. Mona herself confirmed that other family members had requested she cease her activism and remove her YouTube videos, but she maintains she has broken no laws and must remain strong to support her family.
The UK government has acknowledged Egypt's practice of 'punishment by proxy' in its policy notes, a concern also raised by Human Rights Watch and the House of Commons library in 2021 regarding the targeting of family members of critics living abroad. Mona's YouTube channel has 130,000 subscribers, and she is active on X, making specific claims about government officials. The UK's Foreign Office in Cairo has sought access to Eman but has not yet received a response. Eman's husband reported that police had visited their home demanding Eman tell Mona to stop publishing critical content. Mona has claimed on X that up to five family members have been detained or harassed, urging them to disown her to protect themselves. Eman became a British citizen through marriage and has four children. Her lawyer has inquired about the potential intervention of Alistair Burt, the UK's new envoy for complex consular cases, who was appointed a month ago to assist British citizens held abroad.