Egypt - Q&A - Excerpts from the daily press briefing (16.01.19)
Q – You awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law to Mohamed Lotfy, head of an NGO that denounces forced disappearances. His request for a presidential pardon for his wife, Amal Fathy (sentenced to two years in prison for speaking out about her experience of sexual harassment), has gone nowhere. Given the strategic partnership between France and Egypt, did you support the request made to the Egyptian authorities by this human rights activist?
A – We are closely monitoring Amal Fathy’s situation and along with certain partners, particularly European ones, have intervened with the Egyptian authorities on her case. We are in close contact with her husband, Mohamed Lotfy.
We are raising the issue of human rights directly and candidly with the Egyptian authorities. It is in this context that we intervene in a certain number of individual cases. We are committed to achieving results.
France is working actively to combat violence against women in the world and supported the first UN resolution on combating sexual harassment in 2018.