Exclusive: Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif

"Egypt's regime must overcome its paranoia"

Sanaa Seif is one of Egypt's most prominent democracy activists. Together with her brother Alaa Abdel Fattah and her sister Mona Seif, she led the protest movement that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Since Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took power, Seif and her siblings have been campaigning against the repression of the military regime and for democratic change.

And they are paying a high price: Alaa Abdel Fattah has been in prison almost continuously for ten years, currently in Wadi el-Natrun prison in the north of Cairo. Sanaa Seif has also been imprisoned several times, most recently in 2021. She is currently visiting London, where her sister has lived for some time. 

Ms Seif, how is your brother doing?

Sanaa Seif: He has had a dramatic few months. Alaa went on hunger strike last spring. In November he escalated the hunger strike, he didn't even drink water anymore. At the time, international leaders were meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27.

Alaa wanted to send a signal and make it clear to the world that he could no longer stand the years of imprisonment. He collapsed in his cell. He was unconscious and had to be revived. Since then he has been taking food again. He looks healthier now and is also feeling better.

Growing up without a father: mobile phone photo of Alaa Abdel Fattah and his son Khaled, whom he last saw two years ago. Apart from this painful separation, Alaa is doing better than before his collapse in November 2022, says his sister Sanaa Seif. Back then, he fell unconscious in his cell while on hunger strike and had to be resuscitated. Since then, he has been allowed to read books and magazines and is more connected to the world after years of isolation. This easing of his detention conditions is a result of the intensive campaign waged for his release during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt in 2022

Easing of prison conditions post-COP27

How are his prison conditions? 

Seif: They have improved a bit since his breakdown. Alaa is now in a cell with a window so he can feel the sun. There is a television in his cell, he can watch sports channels, series and films. We are allowed to visit him once a month for twenty minutes, behind a glass pane. But the glass pane is a problem.

Alaa's son Khaled, who is now 12, is non-verbal and does not communicate with words. He would not understand why his father is behind a sheet of glass. Alaa last saw him two years ago. Apart from that, Alaa is doing better than before. He is allowed to read books and magazines and is more connected to the world after years of isolation. He knows, of course, that the regime did not improve the prison conditions out of charity. 

Why then?

Seif: At COP27, I joined up with Egyptian civil society organisations. We used international publicity to talk about Alaa's condition and the human rights abuses in Egypt which attracted a lot of attention. Climate protection groups demonstrated strong support for the political prisoners.

Heads of state such as Olaf Scholz, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron all called on the Sisi regime to release Alaa. Then a video went viral in Egypt showing a pro-regime MP being taken out of the hall by security guards after he tried to sabotage my press conference. It was embarrassing for the regime. This sudden attention to the human rights situation and my brother took the Egyptian authorities by surprise. That is why they are now treating him a little more humanely than before.

Alaa Abdel Fattah was an icon of the Egyptian revolution. In 2014, he was sentenced to five years in prison for demonstrating without a permit. He was released in 2019, but was arrested again shortly afterwards and sentenced to another five years in prison in December 2021 for sharing a post online about human rights abuses in Egyptian detention centres. Did you expect such a harsh sentence?

Seif: I did not expect such the huge escalation in violence. Alaa was taken to a maximum security prison after his arrest and beaten and tortured on his very first days there. He was not allowed to read books or wear a watch, he did not even know what day it was or what time it was. This went on for more than two years until they transferred him to Wadi el-Natrun prison last year.

The whole procedure was unjust. There was no trial, the judge simply imposed a sentence. When Alaa's lawyer Mohamed el-Baker tried to defend Alaa before the prosecution, he too was arrested. I never expected such a level of injustice.