CAIRO (AP) — The circle of relatives of jailed Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah said they were allowed to see him for the first time in nearly a month Thursday and that he was “very, very thin” after ending a hunger strike that sparked widespread concern for his health.
The activists’ mother, aunt and one of the sisters visited Abdel-Fattah in Wadi el-Natrun prison, north of Cairo. They said the verbal exchange occurred through a window wearing a helmet, so he told them he had ended his hunger strike. after collapsing in the shower last week.
“He was exhausted, weak and vulnerable,” the circle of relatives told reporters at a reading by Abdel-Fattah’s aunt, Ahdaf Soueif, at the circle of relatives’ home in Cairo. “I was very, very skinny. “
Abdel-Fattah, who turns 41 on Friday, is one of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy voices. It stepped up a hunger strike and suspended all calories and water in early November to coincide with the start of the UN meteorological conference, known as COP27, at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh hotel.
He spent most of the last decade in jail because of his denunciation of Egypt’s leaders. Last year, he was sentenced to five years in jail for sharing a Facebook post about a criminal who died in custody in 2019.
Concerns about his physical condition intensified as the circle of relatives did not allow to see him. They stepped up their crusade to draw attention to his case and that of other political prisoners in Egypt.
Last Thursday, the criminal government said it had begun an unspecified medical intervention in Abdel-Fattah while his sister Sanaa Seif campaigned at COP27 to raise awareness about her brother’s case. Earlier this week, he informed his circle of relatives in handwritten notes that he had resumed drinking water and ended the hunger strike.
The family, who were initially surprised that he had interrupted his hunger strike, said that on his visit, Abdel-Fattah explained the occasions that followed his last glass of water on November 6.
He told them he had threatened to kill the criminal government after seeking to force it to pass a medical examination, but that he would not recognize his hunger strike, the circle of relatives said.
He said he banged his head against the wall of his cellphone until he bled, in an attempt to record a report of the incident, and at one point collapsed, the family said. On November 11, he collapsed in the shower. He woke up surrounded by his mobile companions, with an IV in his arm.
“He talked about all of this as a near-death experience,” the family said. “There was a strong component of him who was fit to die. “
The end of the hunger strike led his circle of relatives to ask if the government could have presented him with a deal. Before Thursday, the last time his circle of relatives saw Abdel-Fattah on Oct. 24, they had not been informed of his condition since. after.
On Thursday he told them there was no deal.
“There were no negotiations with the government and no promises were made,” the circle of relatives said. “He’s been absolutely ignorant of what’s going on in the outdoor world. “
Abdel-Fattah’s hunger strike drew attention to Egypt’s heavy crackdown on political speech and activity as the country hosted this month’s weather summit. and social media tracking.
At the weather conference, world leaders raised the activist’s case during their one-on-one conversations with Sisi, adding U. S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Abdel-Fattah received British citizenship this year through his London-born mother. Family members have criticised the British government for not doing enough to secure his release.
Egypt’s foreign minister tried to divert Abdel-Fattah’s attention at the summit. In an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday on the sidelines of COP27, Shoukry said the summit’s priority should focus on “the existential challenge of climate change” and not welfare. be of the activist.
Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and toppled Egypt’s autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak. He was jailed several times and spent a total of nine years behind bars, a symbol of Egypt’s return to even more autocratic rule under el-Sisi.
His circle of relatives said they feared he would start refusing to eat if he didn’t see progress toward his release.
“He will still have no option to resume his hunger strike imminently if there is still no genuine motion on his case,” he said.
In recent months, the Egyptian government has sought its foreign symbol through mass releases of prisoners through presidential pardons and the implementation of a new “strategy” to the human rights situation in the country.
Several human rights teams questioned these measures and accused Egypt of the Sharm el-Sheikh demonstration to further cover up its poor rights record. Egypt is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, along with Turkey and China, according to 2021 data produced by the U. S. Committee to Protect Journalists. U. S. Human Rights Watch estimated in 2019 that up to 60,000 political prisoners are being held in Egyptian prisons, many without trial.