Mother of jailed British activist admitted to hospital while on hunger strike

The mother of a British man jailed in Egypt 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’s Hospital in London on Thursday night with dangerously low blood sugar levels, but continues to refuse medical intervention.

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

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital on Friday, Ms Soueif’s daughter Mona Seif said she feared her mother was on the brink of death and urged the Prime Minister to act immediately.

Ms Seif said: “The bottom line is we are losing her and there is no time.

“Keir Starmer needs to act now, not tomorrow, not Monday, now.”

In December 2021, Mr Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison for spreading false news and should have been released last year.

UN investigators have declared his imprisonment in breach of international law and earlier this year Sir Keir Starmer promised he would “do everything I can” to ensure his release.

Ms Seif said: “If he is unable to deliver, if he is unable to bring my brother (home), then he needs to show that Britain is angry, that Britain is not going to let go of its citizen.”

In a statement on Friday, Ms 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 has lost 42% of her bodyweight, now weighing 49kg, and has not eaten food since September 29 2024.

She was previously admitted to hospital in February, with doctors warning she was at “high risk of sudden death”, and in early March agreed to move to a partial hunger strike following a call between Sir Keir and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

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

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

The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah’s case with the Egyptian president again in a call last week, and Middle East minister Hamish Falconer discussed his release with Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are concerned to hear of Laila’s hospitalisation. We remain in regular contact with Laila and her family and have checked on her welfare.