Husband urges PM Andy Burnham to intervene in wife’s Egypt detention

The husband of a Birmingham woman held by Egyptian authorities is appealing directly to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, asking him to personally step in to secure her release.

Eman el-Shazly, from Handsworth Wood, was taken from her mother’s home in Cairo two months ago, in what her family believes is connected to her sister’s online activism against the Egyptian government. Her husband, Zeesharn Moustapha, said relatives feel “very helpless,” telling the BBC their “only possible solution” now is for Burnham to “make a phone call to Egypt” to end her detention.

The BBC contacted the Egyptian consulate in London for comment. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said it remained in touch with the Egyptian authorities over the case.

Moustapha, 46, said he has had no direct communication with his wife since her detention, relying instead on updates from her mother, who he says has described a deterioration in el-Shazly’s health linked to insufficient 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.

According to Moustapha, his wife had travelled to Egypt to care for her unwell, elderly mother — who had been making 18-hour round trips to deliver food to el-Shazly’s two brothers, also held in detention. He alleges his wife’s arrest stems from videos her sister posted from the UK criticising Egypt’s 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.

El-Shazly’s sister told the BBC she regretted the impact on her family, calling the detentions a tactic the Egyptian government uses to pressure critics into silence — but said she intends to keep posting, viewing it as her duty to speak out.

Moustapha was sharply critical of UK government support, calling the FCDO’s response “useless” and complaining of a lack of calls or updates. “We are very angry, we feel that the government isn’t doing anything to secure the release of a British citizen,” he said, noting his wife has held a British passport for two decades.

A father of four, Moustapha insisted there is no evidence against his wife, describing her treatment as “a clear example of collective punishment” and saying she is being left “to rot in jail.” He added that the couple’s children are struggling with her absence: “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.”

In response, an FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British national detained in Egypt, and are in contact with the authorities.”

Source: BBC News