Nov. 15 (UPI) — Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a pro-democracy political prisoner in Egypt, ended his months-long hunger strike behind bars, his family said Tuesday, posting a handwritten letter.
“We just got this letter. Alaa has broken his hunger strike. I don’t know what’s happening inside, but our family visit is scheduled for Thursday and he’s saying to bring a cake to celebrate his birthday. #FreeAlaa,” Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s sister Sanaa Seif posted on Twitter, along with a photo of the note.
The dual citizen British-Egyptian blogger and political activist will turn 41 on Nov. 18.
“Don’t worry, I’m OK. You’re short letter got through, and I feel better now knowing you’re OK. I’ll see you on the visit day and tell you everything then and we’ll get back to long letters after the visit,” reads the note, which the family confirmed is written in Abd el-Fattah’s handwriting.
“The important thing is I want to celebrate my birthday with you on Thursday, I haven’t celebrated for a long time, and want to celebrate with my cellmates, so bring a cake, normal provisions, I’ve broken my [hunger] strike. I’ll explain everything on Thursday.”
Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif is scheduled to visit her son this coming Thursday, when he said he will share more information about his situation. Those visits last around 20 minutes and take place through a glass barrier.
On Monday the 66-year-old visited the prison where he is being held and was given a separate letter he’d written stating he had started drinking water.
Abd el-Fattah had been on a hunger strike in protest of his years-long detention in Egypt where he is being held on charges of spreading “false news.”
Last Thursday, Egyptian officials said they had performed a “medical intervention” on Abd el-Fattah because of the hunger strike. His family later confirmed the news after being told by authorities.
“We’re counting down the days until Thursday now to find out what’s been going on inside prison with Alaa,” Seif said in a statement after receiving the latest letter.
Seif is also an activist and traveled from England to the COP27 conference in Egypt to campaign for her brother’s release. Seif has also previously been imprisoned in Egypt.
Abd el-Fattah has been jailed on and off for most of the last nine years after he was a key figure in the Egyptian uprising in 2011. He was most recently arrested in December 2021 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.
