Iraq News Now

Alaa Abd-el Fattah's mother marks 100th day of hunger strike

The mother of imprisoned British-Egyptian activist and writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah has marked the 100th day of her hunger strike to demand the UK government “acts decisively” to secure his release.

Laila Soueif launched her hunger strike on 29 September, when the Egyptian authorities failed to honour Abd el-Fattah’s release date as he completed a five-year sentence for “spreading false news”.

The authorities said the two years he had spent in pre-trial detention would not be counted as part of his sentence, a violation of Egyptian law.

Abd el-Fattah helped lead the 2011 uprising in Egypt that toppled Hosni Mubarak and has been repeatedly imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities over his activism.

Soueif, 68, has vowed not to eat until the UK government does more to secure her son's release, subsisting only on black coffee, herbal tea and three packets of rehydration salts a day.

“I honestly can’t believe that my body has lasted 100 days on hunger strike. I had no idea it was possible. But unfortunately the government seems to be waiting for me to be hospitalised before they act decisively to secure my son’s freedom,” Soueif said in a statement.

“We have been lucky that my body has been resilient, but we will soon run out of time. I have now lost a lot of weight and am more and more tired every day.”

Soueif’s daughter, Sanaa Seif, expressed deep concern about the UK government’s “extreme lack of urgency” in its efforts to secure her brother’s release.

“Nobody would have guessed that my mother would be able to hold out for 100 days. She could fall into a critical state at any moment. What are they waiting for?” she said.

Waiting for concrete results

Despite repeatedly contacting the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to warn them about the likelihood of Egyptian authorities extending Abd el-Fattah’s sentence, the family have received minimal contact from them. 

In September, Soueif met with Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who in opposition was a vocal supporter of the campaign for Abd el-Fattah’s release. Following the meeting, Soueif said she was “still waiting for more concrete results”.

Lammy raised Abd el-Fattah’s case on 20 December after over 107 parliamentarians wrote to him urging him to “use the full range of diplomatic tools at [his] disposal” to secure Abd el-Fattah’s release.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also facing calls from campaigners to do more.

The family were informed that Starmer had raised his case at a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on 8 August, but were not provided with much detail about what was discussed.

Last month, human rights experts, including Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard, wrote to Starmer calling for his direct intervention, which they argued could “resolve this case with the stroke of a pen”.

Also last month, several high-profile actors, including Brian Cox, Bill Nighy and Emily Watson released video messages calling on Starmer to “pick up the phone” to Sisi to demand Abd el-Fattah’s release.