Latest news with #hungerstrike
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Türkiye Resolves Residency Dispute of Exiled Brotherhood Judge Sharaby
An exiled Egyptian judge affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood said he ended an open-ended hunger strike after Turkish authorities intervened to resolve his residency status, following a public plea to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Waleed Sharaby, who fled to Türkiye in 2016 after being sentenced in Egypt, announced on Facebook late Thursday that he was halting his protest, which began outside a police station where he had been staging a sit-in. He said the hunger strike was in response to Turkish authorities preventing him from leaving the country and refusing to renew his residency for nearly two years. Sharaby claimed Turkish security services had acted on pressure from Egypt's intelligence services, prompting him to appeal directly to Erdogan. He did not provide evidence for the alleged interference. Moreover, Sharaby said he ended a two-day hunger strike and sit-in protest in Türkiye after receiving a call from a senior Turkish official who pledged to resolve his legal and residency issues. Sharaby wrote on Facebook that he returned home and resumed eating on Thursday after the official, whose identity he did not disclose, invited him to a meeting and assured him that part of the issue would be resolved soon. 'We may succeed in fully resolving the matter following this initial step,' he said. Sharaby, who fled Egypt in 2016 after court rulings against him, began his hunger strike on Wednesday outside a police station in protest over what he described as Turkish authorities' refusal to renew his residency for nearly two years and a travel ban that prevented him from leaving the country. According to sources, Turkish authorities briefly detained him on Wednesday while attempting to depart the country, citing alleged financial violations involving Turkish citizens. He was held for a day before being released, after which he launched his protest. During his sit-in, Sharaby publicly appealed to Erdogan via Facebook, asking for a personal meeting or for the issue to be referred to the appropriate authorities. He claimed he had been subjected to 'severe harassment' and travel restrictions, including pressure on a business he owns in Türkiye and a ban on leaving the country to seek asylum, reportedly in a European state, where his wife and children relocated nearly two years ago. Turkish authorities have not publicly commented on the case. Türkiye has hosted several exiled members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the group's ouster from power in Egypt in 2013, though Ankara has since moved to restore ties with Cairo. Sources close to Sharaby said Turkish authorities have agreed to grant him humanitarian residency, allowing him to remain in the country permanently despite the expiry of his Egyptian passport. The move aligns with similar measures taken for other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government.
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
A hunger strike two continents apart, linking mother and son
Abdelrahman ElGendy is a writer and translator from Cairo. Every night, I go to sleep with one thought on my mind: Laila Soueif might not live to see the morning. Eight months into a hunger strike to free her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah, — the Egyptian activist who is arguably the most well-known political prisoner in the Arab world — doctors at St Thomas' Hospital in London have warned Laila's family that she is at risk of sudden death. She has already lost more than 40 percent of her body weight. Alaa was a central figure of Egypt's 2011 revolution: A software developer, blogger and activist, he has spent much of his life since that time behind bars for his dissent, most recently serving a five-year sentence for the crime of sharing a social media post about torture in an Egyptian prison. I know Alaa by reputation; he epitomizes the hopes of a generation of freedom-seeking Egyptians. I also know him because we spent time in the same prison. Alaa had been moved to our prison in 2019 after his latest arrest, placed one floor below mine. We'd all heard what they had done to him: the beatings, the torture. They kept him sealed off, and, on rare visitation days, he saw his family from behind glass. It was around that time that I first met Laila, by chance, in the prison hall. She enveloped me in a bear hug. She was there to see her son. Nearly six years later, Alaa remains in prison. On the day he was due for release — Sept. 29, 2024 — Laila began a hunger strike to protest his continued unlawful detention. Following her most recent hospitalization, on May 29, support has surged from across the globe for the 69-year-old mathematics professor. Many rightfully rage at the Egyptian regime, which continues to hold her son, months after the end of his second five-year sentence, and despite a U.N. panel's conclusion that his ongoing detention is illegal; and at the British government — whose citizenship Laila and her children hold — for its hollow, ineffectual gestures in trying to secure Alaa's release. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's lukewarm, robotic statements have consistently lacked the urgency that Laila's impending death demands. To those who've only heard of Laila Soueif now, she may seem merely a grieving mother desperate to save her imprisoned son. But Laila bears a history of her own. Laila is a small woman, modest in dress and tone. There's no noise to her, no flash. And yet she commands the room. Born into a politically engaged intellectual family — her father was Mostafa Soueif, a pioneering psychologist, and her mother, Fatma Moussa, a leading Shakespeare scholar — Laila was from an early age steeped in traditions of justice and dissent. Her older sister, Ahdaf Soueif, is an acclaimed novelist, public intellectual and founder of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Laila herself became politically active as a teenager during the student uprisings of the early 1970s against Anwar Sadat's regime. It was through activism that she met her late husband, Ahmed Seif Al Islam, one of Egypt's most prominent leftist lawyers and a four-time political prisoner under both Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. For decades, Laila has been at the heart of nearly every major wave of protest in Egypt, from student sit-ins and academic freedom campaigns to the anti-Mubarak Kefaya movement, and the 2011 revolution and its aftermath. In 2003, she co-founded the March 9 Professors Movement, calling for an end to state control over academic life. While raising three children — Mona, Alaa and Sanaa — who would each go on to become activists themselves, she remained a cornerstone of Egypt's struggle for liberation. Alaa once wrote, 'From my mother, I inherited a stone cake,' invoking the iconic Amal Dunqul poem 'The Stone Cake,' a searing tribute to the 1972 student uprising, when protesters flooded Cairo's Tahrir Square and gathered around the stone base of an unfinished monument to oppose Sadat's 'no war, no peace' policy. Dunqul's poem, uncannily prophetic, has often been read as if written for the revolutionaries of 2011, who returned to that same square to call for the end to Mubarak's dictatorship. Alaa, in other words, is part of a long lineage of revolt. His struggle for liberation is Laila's, too. And now — as he endures a second hunger strike from prison, this one in solidarity with his fading mother — the pair is locked in a deadly alliance. For eight months, Laila has flown between London and Cairo, shivering at protests and speaking at news conferences in bustling squares and even from her own living room. In between, she records interviews, writes letters, and stares down Goliath and his foot soldiers — vowing to continue until her son is free. Laila's hunger strike has stirred long-dormant corners of public life. Egyptian mothers are calling for solidarity rallies. Egyptian campuses that had long gone quiet are once again humming with calls demanding Alaa's release and action to save Laila's life. Like every fragile, insecure dictatorship, the Egyptian regime despises the appearance of yielding to pressure. Laila understands the threat these ripples pose. So, she left them no excuses. She appealed. She filed pardon requests, knocked on every door. She gave the regime every avenue to act while preserving its brittle ego. Three days after her most recent hospitalization, I froze at a post her daughter Mona made on Facebook for Lana's birthday — Mona's daughter and Laila's granddaughter. My eyes blurred as I read through the details: St. Thomas' Hospital's lobby turned into a celebration hall. But it was the photograph that stopped me: Mona laughing, crinkling the corners of her tired eyes. Little Lana, staring off to the edge of the frame, caught by something unseen. The face of Sanaa — Laila's other daughter — earlier clenched with grief at a news conference outside the hospital, now unguarded, softened into a contagious smile. And, at the center of it all: Laila, draped in a beige sweater her body no longer could fill, leaning into her younger daughter, arm hooked around her elbow. A grin on her lips — briefly, impossibly — the Laila from before. Over the course of a decade and more, the family has been thrust into the consuming role of human rights activists, an identity Laila says they have never sought. Looking at Mona's picture, I could glimpse what they — after decades of prison cells, torture, waiting games and sacrifice — yearn for: a quiet, ordinary life. A chance to be a family again. And yet the Egyptian regime insists on deepening its legacy of repression, and Britain withholds the full weight of its influence. The Egyptians in particular seem to have one aim in this story: to silence Laila once and for all. What they've yet to grasp: They have already failed. Amal Dunqul wrote in 'The Stone Cake': Five o'clock struck with soldiers a circle of shields and helmets drawing closer slowly … slowly … from every direction and the singers in the stone cake clenching and relaxing like a heartbeat!
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Suffragette's horrifying account of being force fed pints of milk in prison after being jailed for London window-smashing campaign
The fascinating archive of two Suffragette sisters including their graphic accounts of going on hunger strike in prison has emerged for sale for £30,000. Frances and Margaret McPhun were both jailed after taking part in the window-smashing campaign in London in March 1912. They had travelled from their home in Glasgow to join other campaigners and were arrested and sentenced to two months hard labour. Both sisters, university graduates aged in their 40s, refused to eat and had to be forcibly fed, which they describe in shocking detail in letters from their time at Holloway Prison. The letters were smuggled out of prison by other suffragettes upon their release to inform the movement's leaders about the continued struggle. In one letter, Frances, the younger sister, tells of being held down in a chair as two pints of milk were poured down her throat. In another, she recounts how a fellow suffragette used her head as a battering ram to keep away a nurse trying to feed her by nasal tube. Frances wrote: 'The doctor and nurse rushed in, a sheet was thrown round me, and I was held down in a chair and two pints of milk were poured down my throat. 'Don't gasp with horror. '(Another suffragette) using her head as a battering ram she kept them at bay. 'The fat nurse reposed on her tummy, a wardress on each foot, the doctor supporting her head between his knees! 'One girl was hurt – her nose bled and she was unconscious for some minutes.' Margaret wrote to her brother Robert, describing her cell: 'A chair and plank bed... straw mattress... small window high up... The view is not inspiring, ...smoke and dust ascend like incense to my window.' Both sisters were awarded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) Hunger Strike medal for 'Valour' for their defiance of authority. They returned to Scotland to carry on their activist lives, writing articles to promote the suffragette cause. The medals and letters have remained in the McPhun family for over 100 years but are now going under the hammer at auctioneers Bonhams, of Knightsbridge. There is also Margaret's presentation copy of Holloway Jingles, which she contributed the poem 'To A Fellow Prisoner' to. Sarah Lindberg, manuscripts specialist at Bonhams, said: 'The military-style medals, known as the 'Victoria Cross' of the suffragette movement, were awarded by the leaders of the WSPU to suffragettes who had undertaken hunger-strike whilst imprisoned for the cause. 'There is also a series of extraordinary letters from the sisters inside Holloway Prison describing at first hand the conditions experienced by Suffragettes and the harshness of forcible feeding. 'Railing at the unfairness of their punishment throughout the correspondence, the sisters remain angry and defiant. 'Most striking is the description by Frances of hunger strike and forcible feeding, believed by both sisters to be a necessary tool to achieve their aims, showing the bravery and fierce determination shown by their fellow inmates. 'The letters were smuggled out of Holloway Prison on scraps of paper by Suffragettes who were leaving prison so they are a rare survival. 'The items have come through the family so there is a very good provenance and we hope a Scottish institution may acquire them.' The suffragette movement was founded in 1903 and many campaigners were imprisoned before they were released to help with the First World War effort, which they did with distinction. In November 1918, months after the conflict ended, women over the age of 30, who met a property qualification, were given the right to vote. However, it would be another 10 years before this right was extended to all women over the age of 21 under the Equality of the Representation of the People Act. The sale takes place on June 19.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer playing Russian roulette with jailed Briton's life, family claims
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of playing 'Russian roulette' with the lives of a British citizen illegally detained in Egypt and his mother. Laila Soueif, 69, began refusing food in September after her son, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, remained imprisoned in Cairo despite completing a jail sentence. Doctors now warn she is on the brink of death. 'It feels like the Government is playing Russian roulette with my mother and brother's life,' said his sister Mona, speaking to The Telegraph from a café opposite St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, where Ms Soueif is being treated. Her sister Sanaa, speaking from Cairo, said both the Prime Minister and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt's president, would have 'blood on their hands' if her mother died before her brother was freed. ' We're not even asking Egypt for a favour, he's a British citizen. Does his passport mean nothing?' she added. Mr El-Fattah, a British citizen who is also on hunger strike, was jailed in 2019 for sharing a Facebook post about the death of an inmate. A UN panel has found his continued imprisonment to be illegal and arbitrary. Sanaa said her brother was 'really anxious' about their mother's condition and described him as a 'hostage'. 'He's being used as a negotiating card by both governments. He's finished his sentence, Egypt is not even giving any legal argument to keep him.' The Foreign Office insists it is 'committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release', and said David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, raised the case again last week. However, Sir Keir is seemingly unable to convince Mr El-Sisi, who has reportedly ignored his calls since May 22. Mona said: 'If you ask me personally, David Lammy on his own, Keir Starmer on his own, are both invested in the wellbeing of my family. But has this transferred into action? No. It hasn't led to any tangible change in Alaa's condition in prison.' She accused the Foreign Office of working 'against' families. 'The way the Foreign Office works – especially under this Labour Government – it doesn't feel like it is working with you.' Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Soueif urged the Prime Minister to act fast: 'Mr Starmer, both Alaa and I are now in danger. Please get a result and get it quickly. We do not have weeks any more, we are lucky to have days.' Mr El-Fattah, a prominent writer and activist, had served previous time in prison before being re-arrested in 2019 and sentenced to three years in 2021. Shortly after his arrest in 2019, he was transferred to Egypt's notorious Tora maximum security prison, where he was blindfolded, stripped of his clothing, and beaten, according to Amnesty International. One police officer allegedly told him that prison was 'made for people like you' and that he would be there for the rest of his life. Sanaa, who visited her brother twice on her visit to Cairo, said her brother had received better treatment where he is currently being held, the Wadi el-Natrun Prison, a massive jail complex north of the Egyptian capital. 'I saw him behind a glass shield, he's lost a lot of weight. He looked weaker but at least he says he feels OK. The doctors are testing his blood sugars,' she explained. Mr El-Fattah's sentence expired in September 2024 – which was when Ms Soueif began her hunger strike. For months, she survived on black tea, black coffee and rehydration salts. In February, she began taking 300 liquid calories a day after Sir Keir personally called on Egypt to release her son. She resumed her hunger strike on May 20 and was readmitted to hospital days later. Doctors say she has refused glucose treatment, and her blood sugar dropped so low last week it was undetectable. 'I don't think any of us thought she could continue this far,' said Mona. 'This is why I feel extra angry with both governments.' Fiona O'Brien, UK director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said the Government had multiple levers it could use to pressure Egypt into action, such as changing travel advice. 'British tourists should know they could be arrested for sharing something online in Egypt, and that they won't get any consular visits.' She urged ministers to consider sanctions or to refer Egypt to the International Court of Justice. 'Alaa is absolutely a hostage now… the world is watching to see what Britain is going to do,' she said. A Government spokesman said: 'We are committed to securing Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have stressed the urgency of the situation in calls with their counterparts recently and further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues. 'We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation. We remain in regular contact with Laila's family and have checked on her welfare.'
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
250 days on hunger strike: Can Laila Soueif secure her son's freedom?
Laila Soueif, 69, has been on hunger strike in London for more than 250 days in an effort to secure the release of her son, the activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, from jail in Egypt. As diplomatic pressure mounts, she is now in a critical condition. Alaa's sister Mona Seif describes to Michael Safi the toll that imprisonment has taken on her brother, her mother's determination to do whatever she can to secure his release, and the difficulty of coming to terms with her mother's decision to risk her life. The Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, describes meeting Soueif and says she and her British-Egyptian family have a long history of activism. This includes a reported past incident between her husband, Ahmed Seif, and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, that many believe may be influencing Alaa's potentially indefinite detention. The two discuss the attempts made by different British governments to secure her son's release, the Foreign Office's strategic considerations, and possible diplomatic options. Support the Guardian today:
