Laila Soueif, whose British son Alaa Abd el-Fattah is being held in Egypt despite serving his full sentence, has refused food since September in a bid to secure his freedom
A distraught mother who is on hunger strike in a desperate bid to secure her son’s freedom has been hospitalised.
Laila Soueif, who is on her 149th day of refusing food, has called on the Government to pile pressure on Egypt to release British citizen Alaa Abd el-Fattah. The pro-democracy activist is being held in Cairo, even though he has served his full sentence and should have been released last year.
His family want him to be allowed back to the UK, where he has a 13-year-old son, Khaled, living in Brighton. Laila was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in central London on Monday after her blood sugar levels and blood pressure dropped dangerously.
In a post on X, Laila’s daughter Mona Seif wrote: “Mama was admitted into St. Thomas’ hospital, they will monitor her overnight. Please keep her in your thoughts. All she wants is for Alaa to be free now that he served the full 5 year sentence, & they stole 11 years of his and Khaled’s life!”
Laila has now lost almost 30kg – 35% of her starting body weight. The 68-year-old has consumed nothing but herbal tea, black coffee and rehydration salts since September 29 2024.
She met Keir Starmer earlier this month, and the PM gave her his “personal commitment”. He said on February 16: “Having met Laila Soueif this week, my message is clear. I will do all that I can to secure the release of her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah and reunite him with his family. We will continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release.”
Aala, 43, has been detained in Egypt since 2019, when he was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news.
Laila has called on Mr Starmer to speak directly to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to secure Alaa’s release. The Prime Minister has written to Mr el-Sisi twice, and his National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, discussed the case with Egyptian authorities in Cairo in January.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has described securing his release as the “number one issue” for the government. He has repeatedly raised Alaa’s case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
Last month Laila said: “I have always said that ultimately it is the Prime Minister who must talk directly to President Sisi to secure Alaa’s freedom.”
A group of 50 Parliamentarians, including Lord Peter Hain, Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller wrote to the PM on January 29. Thjey called for him to “intensify efforts across the whole of government to make Alaa’s urgent release a reality”.
Their letter stated: “We are convinced that a direct conversation between you and President Sisi on Alaa’s case, in person or by telephone, is essential to achieve all our shared goal of Alaa being safely returned to his family in Brighton and an end to Laila Soueif’s hunger strike.”