SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt/GENEVA, November 8 (Reuters) – The mother of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah said on Tuesday that she had not heard from her imprisoned son for more than a week and did not information on his health, when he had to stop drinking 48 hours ago after 220 days of hunger strike.
The medical condition of this figure in the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak, who has spent most of the past decade in detention, is causing the greatest concern.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Austrian Volker Türk, on Tuesday called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who has suppressed all forms of protest since he came to power in 2013 thanks to a military coup, to release Alaa Abd el Fattah without delay.
The blogger and pro-democracy activist was again sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021 for spreading “false information”.
“Abd el Fattah is in great danger. His thirst strike poses a huge risk to his life,” said Ravina Shamdasani, Volker Türk’s spokeswoman in Geneva.
His mother, Laila Soueif, herself a human rights activist, said she waited in vain for ten hours outside Wadi al Natroun prison, south of Cairo, hoping to receive her son’s weekly letter, which is generally transmitted to him on Monday.
“They told me that he refused to write a letter, that he is not bad, but that he refuses to transmit a letter,” she said in a video message. “I have no proof that Alaa is alive and conscious.”
Alaa Abd el Fattah said he would stop drinking on Sunday, when the 27th United Nations climate conference (COP27) opened in the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which Abdel Fattah al Sissi intends to do a showcase of his power.
Several foreign leaders have publicly spoken about the activist’s fate, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said they raised the issue of his release during their respective talks with the Egyptian president.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Choukry told CNBC that prison authorities would provide treatment to Alaa Abd el Fattah and blamed the deterioration of his health on “personal choice”.
The Egyptian authorities do not recognize the dual nationality of the activist. (Farah Saafan in Sharm el-Sheikh and Emma Farge in Geneva, French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Bertrand Boucey)