Amnesty urges Egypt to free prominent activist, allow access

CAIRO (AP) — A leading human rights watchdog is urging Egyptian authorities to allow the family of a prominent activist serving a five-year sentence access to him. Amnesty International also reiterated calls on Thursday for the immediate release of Alaa Abdel-Fattah. It says his family members had not received any word from him and were told by prison officials that he is refusing to meet with them. The family had said earlier that Abdel-Fattah has been on a hunger strike for nearly 110 days to protest the conditions of his imprisonment. He was sentenced last December to five years on charges of spreading false news, a charge often used to sentence opposition and pro-democracy activists in Egypt.