Egypt Watch

Alaa Abdel-Fattah resembles Palestinian captives in Israeli prisons, says his mother

On Saturday, Professor Laila Soueif, mother of imprisoned programmer and political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, described the condition her son was found during a visit to the Wadi El-Natrun prison complex as close to that of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Souif said the visit lasted 20 minutes and was in a good mental state, but he looked frailer than ever. She added that he complained that security forces surround prisoners during exercise periods.

According to Soueif, the prison administration did not request any medical examinations to follow up on Abdel-Fattah’s health condition, despite his partial hunger strike that has been going on since April.

However, Abdel-Fattah told his mother that he rejects any attempt to examine him by the prison administration without the presence of his lawyer, a representative of the National Council for Human Rights or a representative of the British Consulate. Abdel-Fattah is serving a five-year prison sentence and is considered the most famous Egyptian political prisoner.