Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy attempted suicide in prison by consuming sedatives on September 9, 2023, after having been imprisoned for over 5 years. Galal has been treated in hospital and survived the suicide attempt. Galal had started his second hunger strike on September 3, 2023, which marked 2 years of his arbitrary detention after serving his 3 years sentence. We demand Galal’s immediate and unconditional release.
Imprisoned since March 2018
Galal El-Behairy was arrested on March 5, 2018, after the release of Ramy Essam’s song and music video, Balaha, which El-Behairy is lyricist of. Galal El-Behairy was sentenced to 3 years on prison and a 10 000 L.E. fine by the Military Court in Cairo, for his unpublished book of poetry, The Finest Women On Earth. Galal also faced charges in a Civilian Court case concerning Balaha, which he has been released from. However, he stayed imprisoned, having been sentenced already in the Military Court. After serving the 3 years sentence in 2021, Galal stays imprisoned in Egypt.
On March 5, 2023, Galal El-Behairy began his first hunger strike to mark 5 years of his detention in Egypt. On June 1, 2023, Galal quit drinking water. Shortly after, he had to be hospitalized as he was in need of urgent medical assistance. He started his second hunger strike on September 3, 2023. Read more >