Husband calls for PM to intervene after wife detained in Egypt
Eman el-Shazly has been held by authorities in Egypt for two months, allegedly due to her sister's activism.
Husband urges PM to step in after wife is detained in Egypt
Eman el-Shazly, from Birmingham, has been held by Egyptian authorities, reportedly because of her sister’s online activism.
The husband of a woman detained by the Egyptian authorities has appealed for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene and help secure her release.
Eman el-Shazly, from Handsworth Wood in Birmingham, was taken from her mother’s home in Cairo two months ago, allegedly over her sister’s online activism.
Her husband, Zeesharn Moustapha, said the family felt "very helpless" and that their "only possible solution" was for Burnham to "make a phone call to Egypt" to bring the detention to an end.
The BBC has contacted the Egyptian consulate in London for comment. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said it was in touch with authorities in Egypt.
Moustapha said he had had "no contact whatsoever" with his wife, but had been told by her mother that her health had worsened because of a lack of food and medical care.
"It's not a five-star hotel, there's 30 individuals sleeping in a cell with one toilet and one shower," he said.
He told the BBC that his wife had gone to Egypt to care for her elderly, ill mother, who had been making 18-hour round trips to deliver food to el-Shazly's two brothers in detention.
Zeesharn Moustapha (left) said the past two months without his wife had been "horrible"
The 46-year-old said his wife had been detained because of her sister's online posts from the UK aimed at the Egyptian leadership.
"How somebody can make videos abroad knowing it's causing direct consequences to people abroad, what kind of person can sleep at night doing that," he said.
Her sister told the BBC she was sorry that her family had been detained. She said it was a tactic used by the Egyptian government to silence critics.
But she said she would not stop posting her videos, because she felt it was her duty to take a stand.
Moustapha said their four children were "distraught" without their mother
Moustapha described support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) as "useless", saying there had been no calls or updates from them.
"We are very angry, we feel that the government isn't doing anything to secure the release of a British citizen," he said, adding that his wife had held a British passport for 20 years.
Moustapha, who has four children, said there was no evidence against his wife, who was being left "to rot in jail", and called it a "clear example of collective punishment".
"The kids are very distraught, they are suffering, they've lost their mother at the moment and we genuinely don't know what to do about it," he said.
A spokesperson for the FCDO said: "We are supporting the family of a British national detained in Egypt, and are in contact with the authorities."