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Alaa Abdel Fattah's friend: 'He is our icon and symbol for 60,000 political prisoners'

The family of the jailed British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, have called on the authorities in Cairo to provide urgent proof that he is still alive. They have not heard from him since Sunday -- when he escalated his hunger strike by refusing water. On Tuesday, the United Nations called for his "immediate release". Rebecca Kesby spoke to Ramy Shaath, an Egyptian-Palestinian human rights activist who was released from an Egyptian jail earlier this year after serving two and a half years -- despite never having any formal charges made against him and no trial. He told Rebecca what happened to him.

(Photo: The UN human rights chief said Alaa Abdel Fattah's life was "at acute risk". Credit: OMAR ROBERT HAMILTON)

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6 minutes