Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah from Tora Prison in Egypt.

Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in our calls for his release, while continuing to press the need for urgent consular access. The Prime Minister most recently raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 1 December. The Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised his case with President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry on 21 December. The former Foreign Secretary raised Mr El-Fattah's case on a number of occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, including on 18 September. The Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, raised the case with the Egyptian authorities on 15 November during his visit to Cairo.