Is David Cameron just a fickle friend?

British Prime Minister David Cameron has been asked to intervene “as a matter of urgency” over the fate of prominent Egyptian political prisoner Gehad Al-Haddad. Well known internationally as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesperson, Al-Haddad became the centre of attention two years ago at an event at Chequers, the historic country house retreat in Buckinghamshire used by British prime ministers since 1921.

Given the red carpet treatment by Cameron on 17 May 2013, Haddad was said to be the star attraction as the Brotherhood presented its vision to the prime minister and his team. Cameron even asked what support he could give as he derided Hosni Mubarak’s “crony capitalism” while talking about the potential of free markets under Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, Mohamed Morsi.

Two years on and now Cameron is being asked to give a different kind of support to Gehad Al-Haddad, but will he give it so readily this time around or was the “friendship” in 2013 the product of a fickle friend?

When Cameron and Haddad first met, President Morsi was in power and just months away from going to London on an official visit. Now both Egyptian men are political prisoners and the only state visit on the cards is by Egypt’s latest President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who ousted Morsi and seized power in the July 2013 military coup.

Ironically, Cameron extended the invitation to visit Britain on the day before Sisi’s administration condemned Morsi to death, despite the outrage expressed by human rights groups who’ve called on Cameron several times now to withdraw the offer.

This week Cameron has been asked to intervene by friends of the Haddad family in Britain after he was taken to a prison hospital several days ago. At this point I must declare a personal interest, because I class myself as a friend and supporter of Gehad Al-Haddad. I’ve known him and his amazing wife Basma for more than a decade and watched them both as they’ve risen from the depths of despair and injustices under the Mubarak regime to the dizzy political heights reached in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster but, as Cameron should know, good friendships should solidify during difficult times, making the bonds even stronger. Now we need to know if Cameron’s words of praise heaped upon Gehad back on that special day at Chequers were vacuous or sincere. If the latter, I expect him to get on the phone to Sisi, ahead of the official visit, demanding Haddad’s freedom and that of the other political prisoners from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Alarmingly, the Haddad family say that they haven’t been allowed to visit him, and have received no information about him, since Gehad was taken to Tora Prison Hospital on Sunday. According to his brother Abdullah, he collapsed earlier that day as a result of “malnutrition and deprivation of basic needs.” Since then, “the family [has been] given no information or visitation rights to see if [he is] alive or dead,” Abdullah revealed on social networks.

Haddad’s wife Basma tried to visit him but was informed that she did not have the required permit to go to the maximum security hospital. She added that the Egyptian authorities also refused to allow any food or medication to be taken in. “I have no information whatsoever,” she said, “I don’t even know why he was transferred to the hospital; I only find things out from Facebook.”

According to his family, Gehad Al-Haddad has lost 35 kilograms of weight over the past four months due to a “starvation policy and deprivation of food” imposed in Al-Aqrab Prison since Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar took office. Haddad was arrested in September 2013 after becoming the most recognised face of the Muslim Brotherhood in foreign media circles following General Al-Sisi’s military coup.

The son of Essam Al-Haddad, one of Morsi’s foreign affairs advisers, Gehad’s family and friends are demanding his immediate release. Five detainees of the notorious “Scorpion” Prison, part of Cairo’s Tora Prison Complex, have died recently through brutality, starvation and neglect, so they have every reason to be concerned.

If that day at Chequers meant anything at all, Cameron must pick up the phone now in an act of sincerity and friendship to save the young Egyptian who so captivated him back in 2013. The British prime minister has the chance to demonstrate that he isn’t just a fickle friend; he must take it, without delay.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.