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Alaa Abdel Fattah, a prominent writer and pro-democracy activist, is one of Egypt’s highest-profile prisoners. He has been detained unlawfully for over a decade and should be released immediately.
Laila Soueif, his mother, a maths professor and human rights activist, was hospitalized in the early hours of 25 February, following almost 150 days on a hunger strike to protest her son’s imprisonment.
Soueif has said she will only end her hunger strike if the Egyptian and UK governments make tangible progress toward freeing her son. But despite the strength of her conviction, there are concerns about how long the 68-year-old will survive. Her doctors have made clear that her life is at immediate risk.
When I visited Soueif in the hospital today, she was far more frail than when I last met with her, with my colleague Amr Magdi, during her daily protest outside 10 Downing Street. This time, she appeared drawn of all energy and visibly diminished, but her conviction remained as resolute as ever.
I was in awe as Soueif mustered the strength to tell me that she needs to see at least some tangible progress: “A call between President Sisi and Prime Minister Starmer would be sufficient” before she would consider ending her hunger strike. As I was leaving her bedside, worried it may be the last time, she looked at me with clear conviction and said, “I know I need to do this; I need to see some movement. I am his mother.”
On 14 February, the UK Prime Minister met with Soueif and committed to doing all he can to secure the release of her son, a British-Egyptian dual citizen, and reunite him with his family. Starmer said he would continue to raise Abdel Fattah’s case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release. But Soueif is running out of time.
Abdel Fattah advocated for democracy under former President Hosni Mubarak’s autocracy and took part in Egypt’s 2011 revolution. Under current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s government, he has been imprisoned more or less continuously since 2014.
In 2015, an Egyptian court sentenced Abdel Fattah to five years in prison for participating in a 2013 protest. In September 2019, just six months after being