9th December 2024

Dear friends,

On Day 71 of Alaa's mother, Laila's hungerstrike, and the 71st day of Alaa's illegal imprisonment in Egypt past his release date, we wanted to share with you that a group of Nobel Laureates have written to British PM Keir Starmer urging him to intervene with the Egyptian government to #FreeAlaa. 

Although Laila continues to stay strong, after 71 days with no calories, we are now entering a very dangerous phase. 

Writers JM Coetzee, Annie Ernaux, Kazuo Ishiguro and Olga Tokarczuk are among the laureates urging Keir Starmer to take action.

“We write to you because time is running out." the letter begins.

“For over 10 years now Alaa has been punished by the Egyptian military regime for his writings, for his exposure of military killing of civilians, for his theoretical work on constitutions and the law, for his acerbic wit,” 

“We urge you, prime minister, to intervene before it is too late,” they write. “Not only because Alaa is a British citizen, but to reanimate the commitment to intellectual sanctuary that made Britain a home for bold thinkers and visionaries for centuries.”

The letter was also signed by the Nobel laureates Mohamed El-Baradei, Jon Fosse, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Svetlana Alexievich, Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller, Peter Handke and Orhan Pamuk.

As John McDonnell MP said yesterday in Parliament:  there are multiple ways the British government could put pressure on Egypt to release Alaa.

McDonnell urged the government to make it clear there will be "serious consequences for the bilateral relationship" if Egypt continues to illegally detain Alaa, a British citizen. 

"I hope the government can grasp the urgency of the situation in the context of a 67 year old woman on hungerstrike whose life I believe is at risk"

As we reach this crisis point there are, as ever, ways you can help:

•  Keep writing to your MP (if you're in the UK). It is making a difference. Get your friends and family to write to theirs using our website tool here. The pressure is on the new government now to show they can intervene, and time is of the essence.

We will work hard to share more regular updates with you all in these coming, crucial, days. 

For more on the Nobel Laureate's letter to Keir Starmer see this piece in The Guardian.

From the #FreeAlaa campaign