Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international counterparts to help secure the release of Egyptian-British dual national Alaa Abd el-Fattah in Egypt.
The UK Government regularly discusses human rights issues in Egypt with our international partners, including Mr El-Fattah's case, both privately and in forums such as the UN Human Rights Council. Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in our calls for his release, whilst continuing to press the need for urgent consular access.
The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, most recently on 2 March. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised the case several times with the Egyptian Ambassador, most recently on 10 July and also raised it with Foreign Minister Shoukry during his visit to Cairo on 4 April.