The household of a British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist who went on starvation strike in an Egyptian jail say they’ve acquired affirmation he’s nonetheless alive.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been on starvation strike towards his detention and jail circumstances for the final six months, taking simply 100 energy a day.
Last week he escalated his starvation strike and stopped taking water to coincide with the beginning of the COP27 local weather change summit within the Red Sea resort Sharm El-Sheikh.
“I’m so relieved. We just got a note from prison to my mother, Alaa is alive, he says he’s drinking water again as of November 12,” Mr Abd El-Fattah’s sister Sanaa Seif tweeted.
“He says he’ll say more as soon as he can. It’s definitely his handwriting. Proof of life, at last. Why did they hold this back from us for 2 days?!”
The 40-year-old’s household and lawyer had made repeated journeys to the jail the place he’s detained northwest of Cairo however had acquired no information of his situation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised Mr Abd El-Fattah’s plight with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the United Nations local weather talks.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the federal government was maintaining “a very, very close eye” on his case.
“It’s a case that the Foreign Office has raised over a number of years in support of him. The Egyptians do not recognise him as a British citizen,” he stated.
“We disagree with them on that and we have highlighted this disagreement to them at every level up to and including the prime minister in his discussions with President Sisi.”
‘Medical intervention’ days after escalating starvation strike
On Thursday, Egypt’s public prosecutor stated Mr Abd El-Fattah was in good well being after the household stated they have been knowledgeable a medical intervention had been carried out.
The nature of the intervention was not made clear however his household expressed fears jail officers would force-feed the activist, which they stated would quantity to torture.
Last week an Egyptian MP was faraway from a information convention about Mr Abd El-Fattah after he questioned whether or not he was a political prisoner and shouted at Mr Abd El-Fattah’s sister.
Celebrities communicate out for activist
Mr Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to 5 years in jail in December final yr after being charged with spreading pretend information over a Facebook publish he shared about human rights abuses in Egyptian prisons in 2019.
The activist’s household stepped up their marketing campaign for his launch forward of COP27 and likewise organised a sit-in exterior the UK Foreign Office.
Celebrities who’ve spoken out in his assist embody Dame Judi Dench, Dame Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Carey Mulligan and Khalid Abdalla.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg refused to affix COP27 as a result of she disagreed with the nation’s human rights abuses and was seen at a protest in solidarity with Mr Abd El-Fattah.
Source: information.sky.com”