Rishi Sunak has been urged to deliver on a promise to get jailed British writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah released from an Egyptian prison, where he has been denied access to a lawyer or the British consulate.
Monday will mark a year since the PM said he was “totally committed” to resolving the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the pro-democracy writer who has spent most of the past 10 years in prison, accused of spreading false news.
The prime minister wrote to the family ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, saying Alaa “remains a priority for the British government, both as a human rights defender and as a British national”.
The conference drew international condemnation of Alaa’s imprisonment, with US President Joe Biden using it to raise the case with Egypt’s authoritarian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
But Alaa’s sister Sanaa Seif said her brother “still languishes in prison”, and the British Consulate is still being refused access by Egyptian officials.
“It’s time for the prime minister to deliver on his promise, or to at least show that he’s trying,” Ms Seif told Sky News.
“That heart-warming and hopeful feeling back then, when I got a letter from the prime minister – it’s no longer there, because it’s been a year, nothing has happened.”
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Image: Sanaa Seif, herself jailed in Egypt before moving to the UK, returned for COP27 to highlight her brother’s case. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: Freedom for Alaa Campaign
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “Our priority remains securing consular access to Mr el-Fattah and his release. We continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian Government.”
Sky News understands Foreign Secretary James Cleverly last raised the case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on 18 September, and other ministers have also pressed Egyptian officials in the last year.
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Although Alaa’s prison conditions have improved since COP27 – he is now allowed sunlight, time outside and a TV – he remains in prison with no legal or consular access.
“We feel ignored,” Ms Seif added, saying it seemed foreign office staff appeared rather to be “managing our rage, our frustration” than having a mandate to achieve much.
Richard Ratcliffe, who doggedly campaigned for six years for the release of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from an Iranian prison, said it is “disappointing after an advocacy high point when a year later you realise nothing has moved”.
“It always means that the government hasn’t pushed that hard, and the family needs to find a new way to climb the priorities again.”
Ms Seif is ramping up campaigning this month, planning media interviews, a letter to the prime minister and a London event with writers’ charity PEN International.
But she fears the war in Gaza and “dehumanisation” of Arab people by politicians and the media will make it even harder to secure her brother’s release.
“The whole debate around whether we should be calling for a ceasefire or not basically means that these Palestinian civilian lives are not as worth saving as others,” she said.
“It’s making me question if [UK politicians] people will ever do any good for us because I’m also Arab.”
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Sister fears brother will die in prison
Mr Ratcliffe said that during current conversations between the UK and Egypt about the war in Gaza, the UK is also “signalling to Egypt how much Alaa means to them”.
“For Alaa to come home soon, the UK needs to make him a priority in all those conversations. Clearly, that hasn’t happened this past year.”
The 19-year-old woman who died after she was attacked by a dog at a flat in Bristol on Wednesday has been named as Morgan Dorsett from Shropshire.
Two people – a man and a woman both aged in their 20s – have been arrested over the attack and have been released on conditional bail.
Initial reports suggested the dog may be an XL bully, but confirming the breed will form part of the police assessment process, according to Avon and Somerset Police.
It was sedated and seized by officers.
Image: An XL bully. File pic: PA
Ms Dorsett’s family thanked the public for their support and those who have left flowers near the scene.
Officers were called to an incident in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol at 7.19pm on Wednesday.
Paramedics and police officers attended but Ms Dorsett died at the scene.
Image: Ms Dorsett. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police
On Thursday, Inspector Terry Murphy said: “Our thoughts, first and foremost, are with the family of the young woman who’s tragically died as a result of yesterday evening’s incident. They have been updated and will be supported by a family liaison officer.
“I’d also like to thank the officers and paramedics who attended yesterday evening and tried to save her life. Support is in place for them.
“A full investigation is now well under way to establish the full circumstances of the events that led to her death.”
Bargain Hunt auctioneer Charles Hanson has been cleared of coercive control and assault allegations relating to his wife.
The 46-year-old was accused of being violent towards Rebecca Hanson over an eight-year period.
The charges were brought after he was arrested in June 2023.
The TV auctioneer, from Mackworth, Derby, denied controlling or coercive behaviour spanning from 2015 to 2023, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating. The two assault charges related to incidents in 2015 and 2023.
During the trial, Hanson claimed his wife had controlled him. He told the court he was “almost a slave” to her, saying she left him “a beaten and broken man” by controlling him and making him subservient towards her.
She had claimed her husband was violent towards her and put her in a headlock in 2012, while she pregnant with a baby she later lost.
Mrs Hanson also alleged her husband repeatedly “grabbed” her, scratched her as she tried to snatch a mobile phone and pushed her twice during a row.
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Image: Hanson outside the court with his parents today. Pic: PA
The auctioneer told the court his wife was allowed “to do what she wanted” but had experienced “moments and episodes” including one which saw her claim his legs being crossed amounted to abuse.
Jurors deliberated for around four and a half hours before delivering not guilty verdicts on all charges.
As the verdicts were returned, Hanson smiled at his parents, who were sat in the front row of the public gallery at Derby Crown Court, and gave them a thumbs-up.
After thanking the jurors for their care in considering the case, Judge Martin Hurst told Hanson: “You have been found not guilty. That is the end of the case. You will hear no more about it and you are free to go.”
The TV star’s parents wept and hugged their son after he was discharged from the dock.
Hanson ‘relieved this is all over’
Image: Hanson speaks to media after the verdict. Pic: PA
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Hanson said: “I’m delighted that after a year and a half the truth has finally come out.
“I can finally live my life again. I feel this burden has finally been lifted.”
“It has been a tormentuous time and all I want now is to readjust to what has been such an ordeal,” he continued. “I am so relieved that this is all over.”
As well as regularly featuring on Bargain Hunt, Hanson has appeared on Flog It! and Antiques Road Trip.
A self-described “monster” who beat a top chef to death near Notting Hill Carnival has been jailed for life.
Omar Wilson repeatedly punched and kicked Mussie Imnetu during an altercation outside a restaurant in Queensway, west London,on 26 August last year.
Wilson, 31, then left the scene to go clubbing.
Mr Imnetu, 41, who worked under star chefs Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, died in hospital four days later, without regaining consciousness.
Image: Mussie Imnetu. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Sentencing Wilson to a minimum 18 years, Judge Philip Katz said Mr Imnetu’s “brutal” killing was “abhorrent”.
“Mussie and those who loved him are the victims in this case and the impact on them of his murder has been severe,” he said.
“Mussie was defenceless on the ground when you punched and kicked him to death.”
He continued: “You could not control your temper. Only a few seconds after punches were aimed by both of you you tripped Mussie and he fell to the ground and you could have walked away.
“As he knelt you rained further punches down on his head. You could have walked away.
“However, you stood up, raised your leg and kicked him hard to the head. Kicking someone to the head when they are defenceless on the ground is abhorrent.”
Image: CCTV footage of Omar Wilson at a security point after the assault. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Mr Imnetu’s wife, Linda, described her husband as “respected, admired and loved” in a pre-recorded victim impact statement played in court.
“Mussie didn’t just leave behind a legacy for his family, he left an indelible mark on his workplace and community,” she said.
“Nothing can undo what has been taken from us. I ask the court to remember the man Mussie was: his character, his integrity and the life he built; not just the circumstances of his passing.”
An audio recording of Mr Imnetu’s six-year-old son wishing his “daddy” goodbye was also played in court, which the judge called “heart-rending”.
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CCTV footage was played in court during the trial showing Wilson approaching Mr Imnetu and headbutting him.
Around a minute later, Wilson punched Mr Imnetu five times in the head, continued to repeatedly punch him while he was on his hands and knees, and then kicked him in the head.
Wilson of Napier Road, east London, told the Old Bailey he was acting in self defence, telling jurors: “I just regret that somebody’s life was taken while I was trying to defend mine.”
He claimed Mr Imnetu had a broken bottle – something Judge Katz described as “a deliberate lie”.
The court heard after the attack that Wilson had told an associate he “crossed the line”.
In a message, he said: “There’s a monster in me, man, and it’s just like sometimes it comes out.
“And I think I’ve messed up now, I’ve messed up, everything’s finished.”