British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah's mother begins hunger strike against his 'unlawful' imprisonment

Laila Soueif, the mother of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, launched a hunger strike on Monday to protest against what she described as her son's 'unlawful' imprisonment, despite, technically, the end of his five-year term on Sunday, 29 September.  

"As of today, the 30th of September 2024, I consider that Alaa is unlawfully detained [and] kidnapped. I am going on a full hunger strike until he is released. This is to protest the crime committed against him by the Egyptian authorities and to protest the complicity of the British authorities," Soueif wrote on her Facebook page.

The Egyptian prosecutor-general had a day earlier rejected a petition by Abdel-Fattah's family and lawyer to count the two years he had spent in pre-trial detention as part of his sentence. In doing so, Abdel-Fattah's sentence is expected to end in January 2027.

The reasons behind the rejection of his release remain unclear. 

The Egyptian criminal procedures law dictates that the duration a detainee spends in detention before trial is deducted from the sentence, as long as the defendant has not been convicted of any other legal offences during this time.

"The Egyptian regime is an ally of the British government. Alaa is a binational British-Egyptian citizen. Therefore, his well-being and the respect of his rights are the joint responsibility of both states," the 68-year-old distressed mother posted on Facebook.

Abdel-Fattah and his two sisters, Sana and Mona Seif, originally Egyptian nationals, had been granted UK passports a few years ago for being the children of a British-born mother, Soueif, a mathematics professor and renowned activist, who has long fought for the independence of Egypt's academic institutions.

"I thought I was ready for that day, knowing well in advance they had no intention of letting you go without a fight... Turns out, you can never be ready for a day like today," Abdel-Fattah's sister, Mona Seif wrote on her Facebook page after the petition for his release was rejected.

Abdel-Fattah, 42, also an author, a software developer and a blogger, was first sentenced to five years in 2014 after being convicted of joining an unauthorised protest and assaulting a police officer, charges he denies.

Abdel-Fattah was rearrested less than a year after his release during his parole in a crackdown that followed rare anti-government protests.

After spending two years in pre-trial detention, he was found guilty of "spreading false news" among other charges over sharing a social media post about alleged police brutality.

The New Arab could not reach Abdel-Fattah's lawyer for comment at the time of publication, as his family requested that their social media posts be referred to for updates for the time being.

Today marks 5 years since Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was unjustly jailed for standing up for human rights.

He remains in prison, but the fight for his path to freedom continues. #FreeAlaa

➡️ https://t.co/EKSPIBxZbr pic.twitter.com/gDP2iq5vx2

— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) September 29, 2024

Over the past decade, Abdel-Fattah's incarceration has been met with international outcry, with several attempts to secure his early release all reaching nowhere.

In 2022, Abdel-Fattah went on a hunger strike for nearly six months over his imprisonment conditions, escalating his protest by refusing to drink water during the COP27 UN climate summit in November of the same year.

Abdel-Fattah was a leading figure in the 2011 revolution, mobilising young people in the uprising that unseated long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak. He is also the son of the late renowned human rights lawyer Ahmed Seif dubbed, "the advocate of the poor."