British-Egyptian Activist’s Mother on Hunger Strike to Demand His Release

Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 60 days, urging UK and Egyptian authorities to free her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a political prisoner held beyond his sentence.

• Laila Soueif, a British-Egyptian mathematician, has been on hunger strike for 60 days to pressure authorities into releasing her son, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a prominent democracy activist and writer.
• Alaa Abd el-Fattah, sentenced to five years for 'spreading false news,' completed his term in September but remains detained, with Egyptian authorities refusing to count his pretrial detention time.
• Soueif plans to meet UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who previously advocated for her son’s release, to urge stronger diplomatic action and leverage the UK’s £4 billion trade relationship with Egypt.
• The UK government has faced criticism for its limited progress in securing Abd el-Fattah’s release, despite his British citizenship and Soueif’s repeated appeals for consular intervention.
• Soueif’s health is deteriorating rapidly, with significant weight loss and mounting concerns about her survival, as she vows to continue her strike to create a crisis that compels action.

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