Mother of jailed British-Egyptian activist hospitalised after 242 days on hunger strike

The mother of the imprisoned British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been admitted to hospital after spending more than 240 days on hunger strike.

Laila Soueif’s family said she had been admitted to St Thomas’ hospital in London on Thursday night with dangerously low blood sugar levels, but continues to refuse medical intervention that would provide her with calories.

Soueif has been on hunger strike for 242 days in protest against the imprisonment of her son, who has been in jail in Egypt since September 2019.

Last week, Souief told the Guardian she weighed 49kg and had lost about 42% of her body weight since beginning the protest.

In December 2021, Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison for “spreading false news” and should have been released last year. His mother has not eaten any food since 29 September 2024, the date her son’s prison sentence was due to end. She had been surviving on herbal tea, black coffee, rehydration salts and 300-calorie liquid supplements.

She resumed her full hunger strike on 20 May, saying: “Nothing has changed, nothing is happening.”

UN investigators have declared Abd El-Fattah’s imprisonment in breach of international law. Earlier this year, Keir Starmer promised he would “do everything I can” to ensure his release.

In a statement on Friday, Soueif’s family said she had received glucagon treatment, which induces the liver to break down stored fat to obtain glucose, but continued to refuse treatment that would provide her with calories.

She was previously admitted to hospital in February, with doctors saying she was at “high risk of sudden death”. In March, she agreed to move to a partial hunger strike following a call between Starmer and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Abd El-Fattah has been on his own hunger strike for 90 days since his mother’s admission to hospital in February.

Explaining her decision to resume a full hunger strike, last week Soueif said: “I have never seen [the UK government] act as if the situation was urgent, except when I was hospitalised. For me and for my family the situation is urgent. We have used up more days than we ever thought we had. We need Alaa released now. We need Alaa with us now. We need Alaa reunited with his son, Khaled, now.”