Since then, the mother-of-four has been detained in the 10th Ramadan Rehabilitation Centre, which Egyptian authorities have confirmed to the FCDO.
Her lawyer, Arfan Rashid of Rashid Law, told the : “These are trumped up charges and an attempt by Egyptian authorities to silence a political activist in the UK – her sister.
“In my opinion, there is ample and compelling evidence this is just punishment by proxy.”
He added that her detention formed part of a “longstanding and documented pattern of pressure” upon her sister.
Her sister told the that she was sorry that her family had been detained. She said this was a tactic used by the Egyptian government to silence critics. But she would not stop posting her videos because she felt it was her duty to make a stand.
In the UK government’s country policy, external and information note on Egypt from March 2026, it references reports surrounding the targeting of the relatives of activists.
Rashid added that if el-Shazly had been wanted by Egyptian authorities, she would have been detained when she entered the country.
“There is a history of authorities targeting these families who have people in their family who are activists,” he said.
Furthermore, el-Shazly’s has the same case file number as her two brothers, Hassan and Eid, who Rashid says face “substantially identical allegations”.
The brothers were initially arrested in 2020 and spent nearly three years in pre-trial detention before being released.
However, they were subsequently arrested again at their home on 19 May and their detention has repeatedly been renewed.