Laila Soueif, a prominent Egyptian academic and mother of detained British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, has been admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in London after her health deteriorated in the last few hours.
Laila, who resumed her full hunger strike nine days ago to protest her son’s continued detention despite having completed his prison term, saw her blood pressure and blood sugar levels plummet to dangerous levels.
Her daughter, Sanaa Seif, said her mother was admitted to the hospital on Thursday. Although she could still stand, her blood sugar levels had dropped sharply.
“After we entered everything started dropping, blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature,” Sanaa told reporters in a press conference outside St Thomas’ on Friday.
“A couple of hours ago, I thought we're going to lose her,” she added. “She should have been unconscious. Somehow she was still able to be conscious enough to say ‘no, I don't want glucose. I want to keep my hunger strike. I want my son.”
Doctors, Sanaa said, found an innovative approach to keep Laila alive by giving her a type of protein that helps the body produce glucose. “They weren’t sure if her body would react badly, but it worked —for a couple of hours,” she added.
During her speech, Sanaa said she received a message from her sister indicating that Laila's condition had worsened. “It's a lot of numbers, but it means she’s dying,” Sanaa said.
Sanaa concluded by appealing to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene immediately, saying time is running out. “We're losing her. Really there's no time.” she said.
“Keir Starmer needs to act now. Not tomorrow, not Monday, now, right now. It's a miracle that last night passed. It's a miracle that we still have her. I want to remind Keir Starmer of his promise to us. We put our faith in him. Don't let us down," she added.
Earlier this month, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pressed President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for the “urgent release” of Alaa Abdel Fattah during a phone call in which they discussed regional issues.
Born on May 1, 1956 with a dual British-Egyptian citizen, Laila passed down the citizenship to her son in 2021 in the hopes that international pressure might help secure his release.
Laila, 69, began a total hunger strike last September, coinciding with the extension of her son’s detention beyond its legal term. After 156 days, she switched to a partial hunger strike in March under medical pressure amid concerns for her health, and with promises of appeals on Alaa’s behalf.
With no progress on her son’s release, Laila resumed her full hunger strike last week, defying repeated warnings from doctors and family about the severe risks to her health.
The Civil Democratic Movement has called for the immediate release of Alaa and for saving Laila Soueif's life, stating that her health has deteriorated to a critically dangerous level that threatens her life at any moment.
In a statement on Facebook, the movement said "save this family from an imminent tragedy that will leave deep scars on everyone concerned with the future of this country." It added that "this tragedy is not unique; tens of thousands of Egyptian families live with this ongoing suffering despite our continuous demands for the release of all those detained for expressing their opinions."
Similarly, PEN International expressed grave concern over the rapid deterioration of Laila Soueif's health on the 243rd day of her hunger strike, calling for the release of her son. In a press release, the organization urged the UK government to "act with urgency and honour its repeated commitments to securing Alaa’s immediate release."
The activist, who has been on a three-month hunger strike at Wadi El-Natrun Prison, is protesting his continued detention despite having completed his sentence.
On May 15, lawyers Khaled Ali and Mohamed Fathy, representing Laila, submitted two new petitions to Egypt’s public prosecutor seeking Alaa’s release on the grounds that he has already served the full five-year term for which he was convicted.
That same day, Sanaa, and leader of the Constitution Party Gameela Ismail delivered a separate petition to the presidential palace in Cairo, requesting a presidential pardon, which included her medical reports.
Alaa remains in legal limbo due to the state’s refusal to credit more than two years of pretrial detention toward his prison sentence. Although arrested in September 2019, authorities count his term from January 2022, leaving him imprisoned despite having served his time, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali.
