Egyptian-American activist Mohammad Soltan revealed on Twitter that the Egyptian authorities had released five of his relatives who had been arrested months ago in connection with his filing a lawsuit against former Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawy in the United States.

Egyptian human rights activist Bahey el-Din Hassan commented on the release of Soltan’s relatives, saying in a tweet, “The first retreat from Trump’s favourite dictator.” “Al-Sisi released five relatives of the human rights defender, Mohammed Soltan. They had been missing for five months; al-Sisi’s regime informed the US State Department, Congress, and American organisations of his decision, to confirm that he retreated in their favour, not for Egyptian citizens,” said Hassan.

Hassan, who resides in France, added: “It seems that al-Sisi’s ears clearly heard the warning that Biden addressed directly to al-Sisi four months ago that he would pursue a new policy with him in the event he was elected president. However, al-Sisi’s ears do not listen to the calls and pain of the Egyptians.” Earlier, Soltan announced that he had filed a lawsuit with an American court against al-Beblawy, accusing him and other officials of torturing him while he was arrested in Egypt years ago.

American media said that the Egyptian regime continued to arbitrarily imprison five of Soltan’s relatives until the case was dropped. But the US State Department announced that al-Beblawy, who is currently working on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund, was immune from prosecution.