Egyptian lawyer Abul Komsan from COP27: Why did Sanaa Attack Me?

CAIRO – 9 November 2022: Egyptian well-known senior lawyer and gender consultant Nehad Abul Komsan said that she was criticized by several women when she tried to defend the imprisoned political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah.

On her Facebook account, Abul Komsan wrote: “Does it make sense that a human right defender incites [violence] against women and says as long as you are unable to get the officers, kill their wives and children?”

Abul Komsan, who was attending a panel held by Alaa’s sister Sanaa Seif at the COP27 Blue Zone headquarters in Sharm El-Sheikh, was trying to ask a question about Alaa’s “incitement” but she was not allowed to complete her question. So, Abul Komsan decided to take to Facebook to clarify her situation regarding the question in a short video, under the title “Why did Sanaa Attack Me?”

On December 20, 2021, an emergency court of the Egyptian State Supreme Security sentenced Abdel Fattah to 5 years in prison on charges of "publishing false news, with the intent of disturbing public peace and stability.” Abdell Fattah was arrested in September 2019 and was placed on the terror list along with other defendants. 

In comments to Cairo 24, Abul Komsan slammed the panelists for not giving the attendees enough time to ask their questions, saying “They don’t want to listen to anyone except themselves.”

Held in Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday, Sanaa Abdel Fattah's press conference has stirred contraversy among the social media users, who have been wondering why she did not answer an attendee's question and demanded security to escort him out of the press conference.

On his Facebook account, Ahmed el-Kelany stated that Member of the Egyptian House of Representatives Amr Darwish asked Sanaa a series of questions regarding involving foreign authorities to alter the judicial authority in Egypt, and the legality of Alaa receiving a Presidential pardon when he is charged in criminal cases.

Kelany said that the reaction was truly an unacceptable one, explaining that MP Darwish was escorted out of the conference by the UN security, denied any form of answer to his legitimate questions, and was accused by Sanaa of being pushed by the Egyptian authorities to disrupt her conference.

He commented on the incident saying that he doesn't understand what kind of a human rights activist would deny someone else their freedom of speech.

In his Facebook post, Kelany stated that Alaa Abdel Fattah “is a criminal convict, with charges of vandalism, which he publicly gloated about. The fact that he opposes the current authorities, doesn't give him a permission to commit atrocities. Never did it happen that any of the Western Bloc countries has released a criminal from their own prisons because of foreign political pressure unless it was an exchange of prisoners’ deal. I do not see why Egypt should act any different. British or not, a criminal is a criminal.”

Egyptian MP Amr Darwish was demanded out from a press conference for Sanaa Abdel Fattah in Sharm El-sheikh, after commenting on her speech regarding her brother’s situation.#Egypt #SharmElSheikh #COP27 @amnesty @amnestypress pic.twitter.com/Jm3twgGtSX

— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) November 8, 2022

Egyptian MP Amr Darwish was demanded out from a press conference for Sanaa Abdel Fattah in Sharm El-sheikh, Tuesday after commenting on her speech regarding her brother’s situation.

"Sanaa did not reply to my comments on her allegations. One of the conference’s organizers asked me out, and told me that she is not going to reply because the conference has ended, which was not true,” Amr Darwish said in statements to ET, explaining that Sanaa calls for freedom of speech, but denies others that right.

Darwish, who is a member of the Coordination's Committee of Party's Youth Leaders and Politicians [CPYP], further added that Sanaa was trying to turn her brother from a criminal prisoner to a political prisoner, and when he started to comment on her statements she said that she was not going to reply to a representative of the ‘Egyptian authorities’.

“I was not representing any kind of authorities inside the conference,” Darwish said, explaining that the Egyptian authorities has its own channels.

“Sharm El-Sheikh is currently hosting a conference to save the planet [referring to COP27]; what does that have to do with her brother’s situation?!” Darwish concluded.

The video shows French human rights activist Agnès Callamard while trying to prevent #Egypt|ian MP Amr Darwish from speaking to Sanaa Abdel Fattah. He was escorted out of the press conference, while she remained#SharmElSheikh #COP27 @amnesty @AmnestyMENA @hrw pic.twitter.com/RPmzY9IHYg

— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) November 8, 2022

Egypt officially took over the presidency of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Sunday. COP27 will be held until November 18, and is witnessing a wide international participation in the presence of more than 40,000 people representing around 197 countries.