Statement of The European Muslim Network on the continued incarceration of Mrs. Ola Al-Qaradawi in Egypt
Solitary confinement is a form of physical and psychological torture!
For the past 742 days Mrs. Ola Al-Qaradawi has been kept in prison by the dictatorial regime of General Sisi of Egypt. The Egyptian prosecutor has accused Mrs. Al-Qaradawi of “membership and financial support of a terrorist group using her relationships in prison”. These accusations are not only baseless and flimsy, they are ridiculous. Mrs. Al-Qaradawi has been subjected to the strictest isolation without contact with other detainees, or anyone in the outside world, including her family and her lawyers. She has never been allowed a visit nor a phone call.
Mrs. Ola Al-Qaradawi only “crime” is, that she is the daughter of the well-known Islamic scholar Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who remains sharply critical of and opposed to the Egyptian dictatorship. The Doha-based scholar al-Qaradawi himself was tried in absentia by the puppet courts in Egypt and a life-sentence was passed on him.
The actions of the Egyptian judiciary taken against Mrs. Al-Qaradawi amount to collective punishment, a form of punishment practiced in Medieval Europe. The treatment of Mrs. Al-Qaradawi demonstrates the true and dark nature of the Sisi-regime, a regime that tramples on Human Rights, Human Dignity, Democratic Values and even the Oppressive Laws formulated by its own Dictatorship.
Mrs. Ola Al-Qaradawi was set for a release from prison, but in order to prolong her suffering the Prosecutor initiated a new case against her. The decision of the State’s Security Prosecutor is a tactic to bypass Egyptian law which requires that any detainee held in pre-trial detention for over two years be released. Mrs. Ola Al-Qaradawi was transferred to the State Security Prosecution Office and informed that she is being accused again with a similar charge in a new case. The prosecutor ordered the first 15 days of detention and Mrs. Al-Qaradawi was sent back to her solitary confinement cell.
In reaction to this injustice Mrs. Al-Qaradawi has started an Open Hunger Strike.
Mrs. Al-Qaradawi’s health has deteriorated and the psychological impact from continued solitary confinement is severe. A hunger strike will have serious consequences and will further aggravate the already frail health of Mrs. Qaradawi.
The European Muslim Network appeals to The Governments of Europe to use their influence and economic leverage and demand the immediate release from prison of Mrs. Al-Qaradawi. Human Rights organizations are also called upon to highlight the suffering of Mrs. Al-Qaradawi and the injustice she and hundreds of thousands of Prisoners of Conscience are subjected to in Egypt.
European leaders’ reactions to the murder of the first democratically elected President Morsi of Egypt were mute and their attitude constituted an incredible betrayal of European Values. Will Europe demonstrate adherence to its values now and save Mrs. Al-Qaradawi from certain death?
European Muslim Network, Brussels, 5th of July 2019
For more information visit: