Mona Seif, sister of detained British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, has accused both the Egyptian and UK governments of endangering the life of their mother, academic Laila Soueif, as she resumes a full hunger strike despite her deteriorating health.
Her blood sugar levels recently plummeted to 42, according to a post Mona wrote on Facebook.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “severe low blood sugar is below 54 mg/dL” and is considered hypoglycemia.
Prolonged hypoglycemia can eventually lead to death if untreated, according to mayoclinic.
Laila, 69, was hospitalized in London in February after 156 days of total hunger strike. She transitioned to a partial fast in March but declared on May 20 that she had resumed her complete hunger strike.
Born on May 1, 1956 with a dual British-Egyptian citizen, she passed down the citizenship to her son in 2021 in the hopes that international pressure might help secure his release.
“Mum’s life is the responsibility of two governments watching her die slowly,” Mona wrote in a Facebook post, adding, “Mum feels guilty for acquiescing to us and easing her strike, and says she won't make the same mistake again.”
Laila's hunger strike is part of a long-standing campaign to secure the release of her son, a prominent dissident imprisoned since 2019. Alaa was sentenced in December 2021 to five years in prison on charges of “spreading false news, misusing social media, and joining a banned group.”
Alaa remains in legal limbo due to the state’s refusal to credit more than two years of pretrial detention toward his prison sentence. Although arrested in September 2019, authorities count his term from January 2022, leaving him imprisoned despite having served his time, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali.
On May 15, lawyers Khaled Ali and Mohamed Fathy, representing Laila, submitted two new petitions to Egypt’s public prosecutor seeking Alaa’s release on the grounds that he has already served the full five-year term for which he was convicted.
That same day, Laila's other daughter, Sanaa, and leader of the Constitution Party Gameela Ismail delivered a separate petition to the presidential palace in Cairo, requesting a presidential pardon, which included her medical reports.
Alaa himself has been on hunger strike since early March after learning of his mother's condition. On April 21, he reportedly fell seriously ill in Wadi El-Natrun prison, raising further alarm.
Article 482 of Egypt’s Criminal Procedure Code states that a custodial sentence begins on the day of arrest if the defendant remains in detention, with the total sentence reduced by the duration of pretrial detention and time spent in custody. Under the article, if multiple prison sentences are handed down, pretrial detention should be deducted from the lighter sentence first.
