Status: 11/15/2022 4:12 p.m
Human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has been in Egyptian prison since 2013. More than half a year ago he went on a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. Most recently, his family feared for his life.
British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has ended his hunger strike after seven months. The 40-year-old explained in a letter to his family: “I called off my strike.”
His sister Sanaa Seif published the letter on Twitter. The family should bring cake for the next visit on Thursday. “I want to celebrate my birthday with you guys on Thursday, bring normal food,” Fattah said in the letter.
Sanaa Seif, sister of Alaa Abdel Fattah, published his letter on Twitter on Tuesday.
Image: AFP
leader of the revolution
Fattah was one of the leaders in the 2011 Arab Spring revolution, which toppled Egypt’s longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. In 2013 he was arrested while protesting against a tightened demonstration law. Since then he has been in prison almost continuously.
After his long hunger strike and the lack of water since the start of the world climate conference in the country, the prison authorities had “medically intervened”, according to the family. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is “well”. The body can only survive three to four days without water. It is still unclear whether Fattah was or will be force-fed.
In his letter, Fattah only writes that he has broken his strike and wants to discuss the background personally.
Only 100 calories a day
During the strike, Fattah ate no more than 100 calories a day to protest his imprisonment. At the beginning of November he stopped eating altogether, and shortly thereafter stopped drinking.
Fattah and his supporters use the world climate conference to draw attention to his situation. With success: At the beginning of the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz campaigned for the release of the human rights activist.
At the two-week climate conference, representatives from almost 200 countries negotiate how they can step up the fight against global warming. The conference runs until the end of this week.