THE Foreign Office was asked to step in today to ensure the release of a British-Egyptian woman claimed to have been arrested due to her sister’s activism.

Eman Shazly’s lawyers said she had been detained in Cairo to silence her sister Mona, a critic of the Egyptian government who posts social media videos from Britain.

Based in Birmingham, 45-year-old Eman was visiting Egypt at the time of her arrest, as the Foreign Office confirmed to Ms Shazly’s husband that she is being held in the 10th of Ramadan correctional facillity.

The department added that her case has been given the same file number as her two brothers, who were rearrested in May after previously being jailed for three years.

Hassan and Eid Shazly had been held in pre-trial detention as they faced charges of “promoting the ideas of a terrorist organisation on social media, as well as broadcasting false news harmful to state security.”

The arrested woman’s sister Mona’s online activism has focused on alleged cases of corruption inside Egyptian security services and public utilities.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has been accused of pressuring political critics by arresting their relatives in an attempt to stop dissenting voices.

Arfan Rashid, the lawyer of Eman’s husband, said his wife was never involved in politics and had gone to Cairo two months prior, to look after her ill mother following her brothers’ arrest.

“There is ample evidence that Eman has been arrested to silence Mona,” Mr Rashid said, adding that she informed officials she was no longer in contact with her sister.

Foreign Office officials said they had requested access to see Eman in Cairo but have not yet been granted a visit.

Egyptian police had visited the family home where Eman was staying, demanding she tell Mona to stop publishing material against the government, Eman’s husband said.

Mona, who has lived in Britain for 18 years, said as many as five of her relatives have been either harassed or detained by Egyptian authorities.

Posting on social media, she said: “Kinship is something beyond my family’s will and I invite them to disown me to save themselves from this despicable, illegitimate dictator.

“I am the one opposing Sisi, not five individuals from my family. This is a crime against humanity that does not lapse with time.”