The sister of British-Egyptian man Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who is on hunger strike in Cairo, has said she has finally received proof of life from her brother.
The news followed an anxious wait to hear if the prominent activist was alive after he stopped drinking water a week ago.
In a Twitter post on Monday morning, Sanaa Seif wrote: “I’m so relieved. We just got a note from prison to my mother, Alaa is alive, he says he’s drinking water again as of November 12th. He says he’ll say more as soon as he can. It’s definitely his handwriting. Proof of life, at last. Why did they hold this back from us for 2 days?!”
The announcement came after a letter that the family says it received from Abd el-Fattah through the prison authorities on Monday. It was dated Saturday.
Mr Abd el-Fattah, one of the most well-known pro-democracy activists in Egypt, has spent most of the last decade behind bars.
He is currently serving his latest five-year sentence for sharing a Facebook post that was critical of prison conditions. He has repeatedly called for the release of all those unjustly detained in the country.
Laila Soueif, Abd el-Fattah’s mother, told the Associated Press that the letter did not mention his hunger strike, but that the family’s assumption was that it was ongoing.
“He didn’t ask for food,” she said. “He asked for... salts and vitamins.”
On Thursday, the authorities said they had “medically intervened” in Abd el-Fattah‘s case, without providing details, raising concerns that he was being force-fed. Abd el-Fattah’s Lawyer, Khaled Ali, was blocked on several occasions from visiting him in prison after news of the medical intervention was announced.
Egypt is currently hosting the Cop27 summit, and British prime minister Rishi Sunak is in the country alongside dozens of world leaders, in his first major international trip since assuming office.
Before flying to Sharm el-Sheikh for the summit, Mr Sunak promised Mr Abd el-Fattah’s family that securing his release was a “priority” for the government.
However, he was subsequently filmed dodging journalists’ calls for comment on the status of the negotiations.
More follows...
