The mother of a Egyptian-British activist jailed in Cairo has been hospitalised as her hunger strike approached 150 days, her family said Tuesday.Laila Soueif, 68, has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.She was taken to a London hospital overnight Monday to Tuesday, the 149th day of her protest, due to “dangerously new lows” in her blood sugar levels, blood pressure and sodium levels, her campaign said in a statement. Fattah, 43, a pro-democracy and rights campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and later given a five-year sentence for “spreading false news”. His family criticised his trial as a “farce”.For weeks, Soueif braved London’s bitter cold to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office each working day since the date her son should have been released.She suspended the protests last week after meeting with Starmer who pledged support for efforts to secure Fattah’s release.”We will continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release,” Starmer said in a statement after their meeting.Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to Cairo last month to pressure officials to release Fattah, who was a key figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.He was given British citizenship in 2022 through the UK-born Soueif.Free media campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said they were “deeply worried” by the hospitalisation, calling on the government to “intensify efforts to secure his release”.Soueif has lost almost 30 kilogrammes (66) pounds, since starting her hunger strike.
The mother of a Egyptian-British activist jailed in Cairo has been hospitalised as her hunger strike approached 150 days, her family said Tuesday.Laila Soueif, 68, has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.She was taken to a London hospital overnight Monday to Tuesday, the 149th day of her protest, due to “dangerously new lows” in her blood sugar levels, blood pressure and sodium levels, her campaign said in a statement. Fattah, 43, a pro-democracy and rights campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and later given a five-year sentence for “spreading false news”. His family criticised his trial as a “farce”.For weeks, Soueif braved London’s bitter cold to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office each working day since the date her son should have been released.She suspended the protests last week after meeting with Starmer who pledged support for efforts to secure Fattah’s release.”We will continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release,” Starmer said in a statement after their meeting.Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to Cairo last month to pressure officials to release Fattah, who was a key figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.He was given British citizenship in 2022 through the UK-born Soueif.Free media campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said they were “deeply worried” by the hospitalisation, calling on the government to “intensify efforts to secure his release”.Soueif has lost almost 30 kilogrammes (66) pounds, since starting her hunger strike.
