The mother of a British man jailed in Egypt has spoken from her hospital bed to say that she is prepared to die on hunger strike if necessary to free her son from prison.
Laila Soueif, 69, spoke out on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 from St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, this morning (Tuesday 3 June).
Professor Soueif called on the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to put pressure on the Egyptian authorities to release the pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has dual nationality.
Mr Abd El-Fattah, 43, who is British-Egyptian and whose young son lives in Brighton, has been detained in Egypt since Sunday 29 September 2019.
In December 2021, Mr Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news. He was due to be released last year.
Mr Abd El-Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison because of his criticism of Egypt’s rulers and has not seen his Brighton-based son.
The former Conservative minister Sir John Whittingdale, who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Today programme that Mr Abd El-Fattah was a “political activist” who had not committed “any crime that we would recognise”.
He said that the Labour Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been “outspoken” in opposition but, since becoming a government minister, “simply hasn’t had an effect”.
Professor Soueif said that if she did not survive, her death should be used as a leverage to set her son free.
She has not eaten for more than eight months and doctors said that she was at risk of sudden death.
She said: “It’s something that I passionately don’t want to happen. Children want a mother, not a notorious mother, whether the notoriety is good or bad.
“But if that’s what it takes to get Alaa out of jail and to get all my children and grandchildren’s life back on track, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
She previously said: “I believe that the UK government know what they need to do to secure Alaa’s release and, at this stage, it is a case of them getting on with it.
“In opposition, David Lammy was right to call for diplomatic consequences for Egypt if Alaa was not released. The Foreign Secretary must now follow his own advice.
“Alaa is a British citizen and he should be with his son in Brighton, not in prison, beyond his sentence, in Egypt.”
She hasn’t eaten for 8 months? Sure
She’s been on minimal intake, resuming a full hunger strike on 20th May this year. Body can survive quite a while under medical supervision.
I see, so she hasn’t eaten for 2 weeks. Why does the article say she hasn’t eaten for 8 months? And more importantly why are they wasting a hospital bed on her?
Hunger strike can also mean minimal intake, it’s not an absolute. And she is entitled to treatment and care, just like everyone else.
Eating is an absolute – either you ate or you didn’t so saying someone hasn’t eating for 8 months is objectively false.
Banged up abroad, these countries have real criminal justice, unlike the UK, don’t commit the crime if you can’t do the time, lol
Yeah, really funny – not. You often accuse others of corruption, then slander someone who actively fought against corruption. Does that make you a hypocrite?
That’s just Blackmail, she is willing to leave her Son without a Mother and Grandchild without Grandparent .
He could be out one day she should hope they release him and all be together.
But at the end of the day-who really cares.