US legislators call on Egypt’s el-Sisi to release prisoners

More than 50 United States politicians are calling on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to release activists, journalists, lawyers and prisoners of conscience.
In a letter released on Monday, 55 congressional Democrats (and one independent) urged el-Sisi to release those “unjustly detained for exercising their fundamental human rights”.
The letter is spearheaded by three Democratic lawmakers: Ro Khanna, Jim McGovern and Sherrod Brown.
“The unjust detention of Egyptian human rights defenders, peaceful political activists and other prisoners of conscience is in direct opposition to the rights and freedoms enshrined in Egyptian and American law,” said McGovern.
education ed that the continued unjust imprisonment might result in their deaths in the face of significant COVID-19 outbreaks in Egyptian prisons.
“We are deeply disturbed that in the middle of a pandemic, the Egyptian government continues to wrongfully hold these political prisoners in overcrowded prisons – places where we know COVID-19 can spread like wildfire and cause severe illness and death,” added McGovern.