The UK government is being urged to intervene in the case of a British Muslim mother-of-four detained in Egypt amid claims she is being targeted because of her sister’s outspoken opposition to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s regime.
Eman Saber Eid Elshazly, 45, from Birmingham, was taken into custody by Egyptian security authorities on August 16 while visiting the country and is now being held at the 10th Ramadan Rehabilitation Centre.
Her lawyers at Rashid Law say there are “compelling grounds” to believe her detention is connected to the political activities of her UK-based sister, Mona el-Shazly, a prominent critic of the Egyptian government.
The law firm says Eman has now been placed in the same Supreme State Security case as two of her brothers, Hassan and Eid, who were arrested in May.
Eman had travelled to Egypt around two months before her detention principally to care for her elderly and unwell mother following the arrest of her brothers. Her family says Eman herself is not politically active.
According to her husband, Zeesharn Moustapha, Egyptian police or security officers visited the family home where Eman was staying just days before her arrest and demanded that she tell Mona to stop publishing material critical of the Egyptian government.
Eman reportedly told the officers she was no longer in contact with her sister. Within days, she was detained.
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On August 18, Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered Eman to be detained for 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 4489/2026 — the same case involving Hassan and Eid.
According to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), Eman is accused of using a social media account to promote the ideas of a terrorist group and of broadcasting false news and statements deemed harmful to public security and order.
AFTE says investigators presented Eman with printed papers during questioning which she denied having any connection with. Her brothers face substantially the same allegations.
‘Punishment by proxy’
The case comes against a documented history of action against Mona el-Shazly’s family.
Human Rights Watch previously highlighted the arrests of Hassan and Eid in 2020 as part of what it described as a broader pattern of Egyptian authorities targeting relatives of activists and human rights defenders living overseas.
A UK government country report published in March this year also documented allegations that Egyptian authorities target, arrest and harass relatives of critics, journalists and human rights activists living overseas — a practice described by sources as “punishment by proxy”.
Hassan and Eid had previously spent almost three years in pre-trial detention before being released. They were arrested again at their home on May 19 this year and placed in the same Supreme State Security case in which Eman is now being held.
Rashid Law argues that the combination of the family’s previous history, the alleged warning to Eman about her sister’s activities shortly before her detention, and her subsequent inclusion in exactly the same security case as her brothers raises serious questions about the basis for her arrest.
Husband launches fundraising campaign
Moustapha has meanwhile launched a GoFundMe campaign to support Eman, seeking £9,000 to help pay for legal representation, professional fees, travel and other costs associated with attempting to secure her release.
He said the family was deeply concerned about Eman’s safety and wellbeing and was urgently seeking legal and consular assistance.
“We are simply asking for Eman’s safety, her rights to be respected, and her safe return home,” Moustapha said.
He described the situation as an extremely distressing period for the family, saying that every day without clear information about Eman’s circumstances brought greater fear and uncertainty.
UK intervention
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has opened a consular case and Egyptian authorities have confirmed to British officials that Eman is being detained at the 10th Ramadan Rehabilitation Centre.
The British Embassy in Cairo has formally requested permission to visit her, with consular officials intending to assess her welfare and, if possible, speak to her privately.
Her lawyers are calling on the British government to secure immediate consular access, ensure she has independent Egyptian legal representation and press Egyptian authorities to disclose the specific evidence against her.
They have also urged ministers to consider escalating the case through senior diplomatic channels, including potentially involving the UK’s envoy for complex consular detentions, and to seek Eman’s release if her continued detention cannot be supported by credible individual evidence and due process.
Egyptian authorities have confirmed Eman’s place of detention to the British government, but no substantive response from the Egyptian regime to the allegation that her arrest is connected to her sister’s activism has been reported.
