Status: 11/14/2022 5:44 p.m
Activist Abdel Fattah, imprisoned in Egypt, is drinking water again after a week. His vital signs are good, he writes in a letter to his family. He has now been on a hunger strike for seven months.
Alaa Abdel Fattah stopped drinking water after almost a week, according to his family. “I’ve been drinking water again since Saturday. Vital signs are good today,” wrote the democracy activist in Egypt in a letter published by his family.
“It’s definitely his handwriting,” his sister Sanaa Saif confirmed the authenticity of the letter. It was “finally a sign of life” from her brother.
One of the leaders of the 2011 revolution
Abdel Fattahs was one of the leaders in the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. In 2013 he was arrested during a protest against a tightened demonstration law and has been in prison almost continuously ever since.
After a long hunger strike and a lack of water since the start of the world climate conference in the country a week ago, the prison authorities had “medically intervened”, according to the family. It is unclear whether Abdel Fattah was or will be force-fed. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is “well”. The body can only survive three to four days without water.
At the two-week climate conference, representatives from almost 200 countries negotiate how the fight against global warming can be stepped up. The conference runs until the end of this week.
UN to investigate allegations of surveillance at climate conference
At the same time, the UN is investigating allegations at the climate conference that there were surveillance measures and other misconduct by Egyptian security forces. The UN department responsible for security at the conference said it had “been made aware of allegations” that there had been violations of rules of conduct. This will now be checked.
In the past few days, there had been events organized by the German delegation at the climate conference, at which the human rights situation in Egypt was a topic, in particular the fate of the imprisoned activist Fattah.
The Egyptian side said the allegations were “ridiculous”.