Бирмингем хотын оршин суугч, Египет гаралтай эмэгтэйг Египетийн эрх баригчид улс төрийн үйл ажиллагаа явуулдаг эгчийнх нь нөлөөг бууруулах зорилгоор саатуулсан гэж хуульчид үзэж байна.
Их Британийн иргэн, 45 настай Эман эль-Шазли наймдугаар сарын 16-нд Египетэд айлчилж байхдаа баривчлагджээ. Түүний хуульчдын мэдээлснээр, Эман нь улс төртэй ямар ч холбоогүй бөгөөд өмнө нь баривчлагдсан хоёр ахыгаа эргэж, ээжийгээ асрахаар Египетэд очсон байв. Түүний эгч Мона нь Их Британид байрлан Египетийн засгийн газрыг шүүмжилсэн YouTube суваг ажиллуулдаг бөгөөд эрх баригчид түүнийг дуугүй болгохын тулд гэр бүлийнхнийг нь барьцаалах замаар дарамт шахалт үзүүлж байна гэж хуульч Арфан Рашид мэдэгдлээ.
Их Британийн Гадаад хэргийн яам Эман эль-Шазлиг Рамадан нөхөн сэргээх төвд хорьж байгааг баталсан бөгөөд түүний хэргийг өмнө нь террорист байгууллагын үзэл суртлыг түгээсэн, худал мэдээлэл тараасан хэргээр ял эдэлж буй ах нарынх нь хэрэгтэй нэгтгэжээ. Египетийн засгийн газар гадаадад амьдарч буй шүүмжлэгчдийн гэр бүлийн гишүүдийг баривчлах замаар “зуучлагчаар дамжуулан шийтгэх” арга хэрэглэдэг гэсэн шүүмжлэлд олонтаа өртдөг.
Их Британийн эрх баригчид Египет дэх өөрийн төлөөлөгчөөр дамжуулан Эман эль-Шазлитэй уулзах хүсэлт тавьсан боловч одоогоор нааштай хариу аваагүй байна. Энэхүү хэрэгтэй холбогдуулан Их Британийн шинээр томилогдсон консулын асуудал хариуцсан элч Алистэр Бёртийг хөндлөнгөөс оролцож, иргэнээ суллахад анхаарахыг хуульчид уриалж эхэллээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
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The UK Foreign Office has been asked to intervene to secure the release of a British-Egyptian woman who it is claimed has been arrested in Cairo because of her sister’s political activism.
Eman el-Shazly, a 45-year-old based in Birmingham, was arrested on 16 August while visiting Egypt. Her lawyers say she has been detained in an attempt to silence her sister Mona, a relentless and harsh critic of the Egyptian government on her UK-based YouTube channel.
Her two brothers have already spent three years in jail and, in May, were rearrested. They were previously held in pre-trial detention, facing charges of “promoting the ideas of a terrorist organisation on social media, as well as broadcasting false news harmful to state security”.
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed to the husband of Eman that she is being held in the Ramadan rehabilitation centre and her case has been given the same file number as that of her two brothers, Hassan and Eid.
The government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has faced allegations that it frequently arrests relatives of political critics to put indirect pressure on the dissidents to end their overseas criticism of his rule or of state corruption. Much of Mona’s activism focuses on alleged cases of corruption inside the security services or public utilities, a highly sensitive subject in Egypt.
Arfan Rashid, the lawyer acting for Eman’s husband with whom she has four children, says that unlike Mona his wife has never been involved in politics, and had gone to Cairo two months ago to look after her ill mother after the arrest of her two brothers.
“There is ample evidence that Eman has been arrested to silence Mona,” Rashid said. He added that Eman had told the security officials she was no longer in contact with her sister, and that many family members had repeatedly asked her to stop her political activism in the UK, but to no effect.
Mona confirmed to the Guardian that she had been asked to halt her activism by other family members, including to take down her YouTube videos.
But she added: “I have done nothing wrong nor broken any law … I am a very strong woman, but it is very traumatic for me since 11 or 12 children are without their parents. It is a horrible situation, but the Egyptian government will not stop if I appear weak. The government is close to collapsing.”
Rashid said the UK government had recognised the practice of “punishment by proxy” in Egypt in its country profile policy and information note published in March 2026. Human Rights Watch and the House of Commons library warned in 2021 of an escalating pattern in which Egyptian family members of critics living abroad were being targeted.
Mona runs a YouTube channel in the UK that has 130,000 subscribers. She is also active on X, making specific and controversial claims about government officials.
The UK’s Foreign Office representation in Cairo has asked for access to see Eman but has not yet received a positive reply.
Eman’s husband, Zeesharn Moustapha, has said Egyptian police and security officers attended the family home where she was staying a few days before the arrest, and demanded that Eman tell Mona to stop publishing material against the Egyptian government.
On X, Mona has claimed as many as five members of her family have been detained or harassed by the Egyptian authorities. She wrote: “Kinship is something beyond my family’s will, and I invite them to disown me to save themselves from this despicable, illegitimate dictator. I am the one opposing Sisi, not five individuals from my family. This is a crime against humanity that does not lapse with time.” She has lived in the UK for 18 years.
Eman became a British citizen through marriage. Her lawyer has asked whether Alistair Burt, the UK’s new envoy on complex consular cases, should be asked to intervene by the Foreign Office. Burt was appointed a month ago and has been tasked with working to secure the release of British citizens held abroad.
Burt has already met Gurpreet Singh Johal, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been detained by the Indian authorities for nearly nine years without a conviction.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
Эманаа эрх чөлөөгөө олж авахад туслах хэнд хэдий их гомдолтой байж болох уу? Египетийн эрх баригчид түүний төрсөн дүүгийнхээ үзэл бодлыг дарамталж буй гэж мэдэгдэж байна, энэ чинь ямар улстөрийн дарамт вэ дээ. Таны бодлоор ямар арга хэмжээ хамгийн үр дүнтэй байх вэ?