CAIRO — The family of imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah said that they were allowed into the prison and saw him on Thursday and that his condition has “deteriorated severely” following a dramatic hunger strike.
The news of Abdel-Fattah was posted in a tweet by Abdel-Fattah’s sister, Mona Seif, after a visit to the prison by the activist’s mother, aunt and his other sister. It was their first time seeing him in nearly a month.
Abdel-Fattah is one of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigners. The detained activist had intensified a hunger strike and halted all calories and water at the start earlier in November of the U.N. climate conference held in Egypt, to draw attention to his case and those of other political prisoners.
Concerns for his health intensified as the family was barred from seeing him. Last Thursday, prison authorities began an unspecified medical intervention on Abdel-Fattah — prompting thought that he was being force-fed.
Then earlier this week, Abdel-Fattah informed his family in handwritten notes that he first started drinking water and then also ended the hunger strike.
Abdel-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, received two short letters in her son’s handwriting, on Monday and Tuesday, through prison authorities.
The first letter, confirming Abdel-Fattah had started drinking water again, was dated as being written on Saturday, while the second letter, confirming he had ended his hunger strike was dated Monday.
“News from the visit are unsettling,” tweeted Andel-Fattah’s sister Mona, adding that her brother had “deteriorated severely in the past 2 weeks.”
She said the family would share more information later in the day.
Abdel-Fattah, who turns 41 on Friday, has spent most of the past decade in prison because of his criticism of Egypt’s rulers. Last year, he was sentenced to five years in prison for sharing a Facebook post about a prisoner who died in custody in 2019.
Abdel-Fattah rose to fame during the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept through the Middle East, toppling Egypt’s long-time autocratic President Hosni Mubarak. He has been imprisoned several times, and has spent a total of nine years behind bars, becoming a symbol of Egypt’s sliding back to an even more autocratic rule under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
