"I’m very worried": Mother of hunger striker Alaa Abdel Fattah wants action

Amnesty International warns activist Alaa Abdel Fattah may die during COP27.
Amnesty International warns activist Alaa Abdel Fattah may die during COP27.

Detained Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah’s decision to escalate a hunger strike in prison to a refusal to drink water has raised the stakes and shone a spotlight on human rights violations as Egypt hosts the COP27 climate summit

On Monday morning, as world leaders were gathering for the COP27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Laila Soueif arrived at the Wadi el-Natrun prison north of Cairo to see her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of Egypt’s most prominent human rights activists.

Her 40-year-old imprisoned son stopped drinking water on Sunday, escalating a hunger strike that has lasted seven months in a desperate campaign for his release.

Soueif – a mathematics professor who is also a leading human rights activist – arrived at the prison with books, letters, and a clean set of clothes for her son. But by noon local time, she sounded resigned about her prospects of meeting her son.

© France24 2022

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