4 hours Ago By PA Media: UK News
A mother on long-term hunger strike in a bid to free her jailed son has been admitted to hospital, according to her family. British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, 43, has been detained in Egypt since September 29 2019 and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news. His mother, Laila Soueif, was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital in central London on Monday evening and stayed overnight after her blood sugar levels, blood pressure and sodium levels recorded “dangerously new lows”, the Free Alaa campaign said.
The campaign said Tuesday marked the 149th day of the the 68-year-old’s hunger strike and she is not taking glucose treatment as a result of her protest action. It added she was put on a saline drip due to the low sodium readings and the hospital is continuing to monitor her. Writing on social media site X, formerly Twitter, her daughter Mona Seif said: “All she wants is for Alaa to be free now that he served the full five-year sentence.
” The campaign said Ms Soueif has lost almost 30kg – 35% of her starting body weight – and has consumed nothing but herbal tea, black coffee and rehydration salts since September 29 last year. Mr Abd El-Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison because of his criticism of Egypt’s rulers and is unable to see his young son who lives in Brighton. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met Ms Soueif earlier this month and said he would do “all that I can” to secure her son’s release.
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