UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tells hunger-striking mum he will press Egypt for release of her son

A mother who has been on hunger strike for 140 days has received a promise from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he will press the Egyptian government to release her son.

In a statement Sunday, Starmer confirmed that he met Laila Soueif and said he will do “all that I can” to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British-Egyptian dual national who has spent more than five years in an Egyptian prison.

He is accused of “spreading false news” on social media.

“We will continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release,” Starmer said.

A representative of the family said the meeting took place on Friday morning inside the prime minister’s offices at 10 Downing Street and that it was the first time the pair had met.

Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike since September 29, the day her son was supposed to be released, consuming nothing but herbal tea, black coffee and rehydration salts.

After more than four months, Soueif has lost around 25 kilograms.

She took her campaign directly to the Foreign Office in December, camping out in front of it every weekday to make sure officials notice her.

When that yielded no results, she switched in mid-January to the gates of Starmer’s office — the famous black door of 10 Downing Street.

“The great majority of mothers are prepared to die for their children; it just takes different forms,’‘ she said.

“Most mothers, if their children are in actual danger, you’re prepared to die.’‘

Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was once jailed for 400 days in Egypt, joined Abd el-Fattah’s mother on a hunger strike for 21 days.

One of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, the 43-year-old Abd el-Fattah has spent most of the past 14 years behind bars since taking part in the 2011 uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.

His most recent crime was “liking” a Facebook post describing torture in Egyptian prisons.

Abd el-Fattah has been in custody since September 2019, and was sentenced to five years in prison after a trial before an emergency security court.

But when his release date came up last September, Egyptian authorities refused to count the more than two years he had spent in pre-trial detention and ordered him to remain in custody until January 3, 2027.

Thousands of critics of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi have been locked up under dire conditions after unjust trials, human rights groups say.