Egyptian authorities intervene in prisoner's hunger strike, family says

The family of jailed Egyptian-British hunger striker, Alaa Abdelfattah, said on Thursday they had been informed by prison authorities that medical intervention was taken to maintain his health, four days after he escalated his protest, Reuters reports.

Abdelfattah, who has been on hunger strike since 2 April, had said he would stop drinking water on Sunday to coincide with the opening of the COP27 climate change talks that Egypt is hosting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Khaled Ali, a lawyer for Abdelfattah, went to the prison north-west of Cairo where the activist has been held after receiving a rare authorisation to visit from the Public Prosecutor, but said he was denied access on the grounds that the permit carried Wednesday’s date.

“Permits are normally valid for a week,” Sanaa Seif, one of Abdelfattah’s sisters, told Reuters. “They’re just throwing us in bureaucratic loopholes.”

Abdelfattah’s hunger strike has loomed over the UN talks, with Seif flying in to campaign for his release, and British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, raising the issue with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

Abdelfattah’s mother has been making daily visits to the prison this week. She has received no news from her son, but said prison officials spoke to her outside the gates on Thursday.

“They said medical procedures were implemented to maintain his health and that legal entities have been informed,” Laila Soueif told Reuters by phone. “Nobody has officially notified us with any action that has been taken.”

Without water, Abdelfattah’s health could rapidly deteriorate and the United Nation’s rights agency has expressed concern for his life.

Egyptian officials have not responded to Reuters requests for comment. They said previously that Abdelfattah was being given meals.

The blogger and activist rose to prominence in Egypt’s 2011 uprising before being swept up in a far-reaching crackdown on political dissent after Sisi, then Army Chief, led the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected President, Mohamed Mursi.

Rights groups say tens of thousands of people have been arrested since then, including Islamists, leftists and liberals. Sisi and his supporters say security and stability are paramount.

Another detainee, Alaa Al-Salmy, died in a prison on the outskirts of Cairo in October after a two-month hunger strike, according to Egyptian rights groups.

READ: Egypt has 60,000 prisoners like Alaa Abdelfattah

‘Still in prison’

Abdelfattah was sentenced most recently in December 2021 to five years on charges of spreading false news, the same month he gained British nationality through his mother.

He is on hunger strike against his detention and prison conditions. British officials have unsuccessfully sought Consular access to visit him in prison. Soueif said she was not told the nature of the medical intervention.

“They say he’s still in prison,” she said on Thursday. “They refused to allow me to wait outside prison, refused to receive any letters from me.”

Abdelfattah’s family said in a statement: “We are demanding information on the substance of the ‘medical intervention’ and demanding that, with the utmost urgency, he is moved to hospital where lawyers and family can reach him.”

US President, Joe Biden, is due to join the COP27 summit on Friday. “I urge President Biden to do something, whatever way out that is needed,” said Seif, Abdelfattah’s sister.

The family’s campaign for his release has brought a backlash from pro-government figures and media.

Local media have reported that an Egyptian lawyer submitted a legal case calling for Sanaa Seif’s arrest for “conspiring with foreign agencies” and “incitement against the Egyptian State”. Pro-government talk-show hosts have dismissed criticism of Egypt’s human rights record.

One pro-government member of Egypt’s Parliament was escorted by UN security guards out of a news conference at COP27 on Tuesday when he refused to pass over the microphone after questioning the family’s bid for an amnesty and for international support.