NEW YORK: The UN human rights office urged Egypt to free a prominent married couple who have been arbitrarily detained for more than a year.

Ola Al-Qaradawi and her husband Hosam Khalaf, both in their 50s, were arrested in Alexandria on June 30, 2017, for their alleged affiliation with the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation and for terrorist activities.

“We call on Egypt to release all those arbitrarily detained in the country unconditionally,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the UN human rights office.

Ola is the daughter of Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a leading Islamic scholar and member of the outlawed group, who lives in exile in Qatar, a press release said. She has been held in solitary confinement “in one of the worst prisons in Egypt”, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

Her husband is being held under similar conditions in a different prison, according to media reports.

She has been denied visits from her family and lawyers and recently began a hunger strike in protest.

“We understand that Ola Al-Qaradawi’s health is frail and deteriorating and urge the authorities to ensure that her right to health and to physical and psychological integrity is respected,” Throssell told journalists in Geneva.

In June, a UN-mandated body issued a decision determining that Ola and her husband had been arbitrarily arrested and called for their immediate release.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018