26-02-2025
Laila Soueif at ‘immediate risk' amid hunger strike, parties ask Sisi for Alaa Abd El Fattah's release
'There is now immediate risk to life, including further deterioration or death' for Laila Soueif, mother of long-imprisoned writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, her doctor stated on Tuesday, commenting on Soueif's health condition due to the prolonged hunger strike in which she has protested for the release of her son.
Soueif began her hunger strike on September 30 to protest Egyptian authorities' refusal to release Abd El Fattah at the end of his five-year imprisonment, according to a statement made by the family at the time.
The doctor's assessment came following Soueif's hospitalization on Monday at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
In line with the news of Soueif's health crisis, the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM), a coalition of opposition parties and entities, issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, calling for the president to issue a presidential pardon for Abdel Fattah and end his family's 'suffering.'
Her continued fast presents a 'serious risk to her health,' according to her doctor, who said potential outcomes include permanent damage to her organs, particularly her heart and brain, and that she is 'at high risk of sudden death with continued fasting,'
The letter, issued by the doctor responsible for her care at the hospital, was anonymized and published online by the campaign calling for Abd El Fattah's release. Alongside her fast, Soueif and her family have petitioned for authorities in Egypt and the United Kingdom, where they also hold nationality, to step in and release the writer from jail.
According to the doctor's letter, dated February 25, the fast has led to critical refractory hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar.
They added that Soueif is also suffering from significant weight loss with loss of body sugar and fat stores, as well as low blood protein levels due to the lack of nutrition.
Soueif previously told Mada Masr that during the hunger strike she would consume only water and rehydration solutions from 'the first minute of September 30.' Her campaign said other than this, she has consumed only black coffee and herbal tea.
Mona Seif, one of Laila's daughters, said on Tuesday that despite her mother's deteriorating condition, she continues to refuse glucose, a view echoed by her doctor who noted that she is resolute in refusing glucose 'until the resolution of the situation involving her son.'
Since his involvement in the January 2011 revolution, Abd El Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison on political charges. He served a five-year sentence following his conviction on charges of illegal protest in the case that became known as the ' Shura Council Incidents,' and was to spend five additional years on probationary measures that included spending every night in a police station starting from his release in 2019.
Yet he was soon re-arrested, after he republished an activist's post about the death of a prisoner under torture in the Aqrab Prison.
He was detained pending investigations into the commonly deployed offense of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and held in remand detention for more than two years. He was ultimately referred to trial on only false news charges, and sent to the court, which sentenced him to five years.
'Alaa has completed his sentence, and he is eligible for release because his time in pretrial detention should be counted, Alaa's sister said in a video on her social media platform on Tuesday.
'Alaa should be released because we have been submitting a direct request to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for months, urging him to grant a pardon for Alaa and consider the years that have been taken from his life and [his son's].'
Abd El Fattah's defense lawyer, Khaled Ali, has previously stated that prosecutors refused to consider the two years Abd El Fattah spent in remand detention before he was referred to trial as part of his five-year sentence.
Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky has rejected the family's request to count the two years of detention that Abd El Fattah spent in prison as part of his five-year prison sentence.
This means Abd El Fattah will continue to be imprisoned until January 3, 2027, amid fears, expressed by Amnesty International, that authorities will then resort to other tactics to extend his imprisonment further.
Tens of individuals, political activists and public figures announced a 24-hour collective hunger strike on social media platforms, to take place on Wednesday 26, in solidarity with Soueif's strike and in protest of her son's continued imprisonment.
In the Wednesday statement, parties in the CDM added that Souief's willingness to sacrifice her life for her son's freedom will 'leave a profound and lasting mark' on the conscience of those concerned with the nation and who aim for political reform, economic recovery and the establishment of a democratic state that upholds freedom of expression.
The broadly liberal alliance of political groups then took the opportunity to call for the release of those held in remand detention on political charges, the pardon of others convicted in cases similar to Abd El Fattah and the reopening of the public space for political and civic engagement amid what CDM called 'external challenges and threats.'
'Whatever the method, whatever the release, it doesn't matter,' said Mona Seif in her video appeal. 'What matters is that Alaa is released and Mom doesn't die, and we are left alone.'
