Imprisoned Democracy Activist Ends Hunger Strike in Egypt Why We Shouldn’t Write Trump Off Yet

Democratic activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is imprisoned in Egypt, has ended his month-long hunger strike.

“I broke my strike,” he wrote Monday in a handwritten note that the family released Tuesday. “I haven’t celebrated it in a long time and I want to celebrate it with my cellmates, so bring a cake,” Abdel Fattah wrote. The activist turns 41 this Friday. “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” he wrote to his mother.

Abdel Fattah was one of the leaders in the 2011 revolution, who overthrew the ancient ruler Hosni Mubarak. He was arrested in 2013 during a protest against a tightened demonstration law and has been in prison almost continuously ever since. Since May, he’d been eating only about 100 calories a day in protest at the conditions in his prison, and eventually he had completely given up eating and drinking. According to the family, it was initially unclear what prompted him to end the strike.

This Thursday, a day before his birthday, Abdel Fattah will receive his family in the Wadi al-Natrun prison north of Cairo. Separated by a pane of glass, he is usually allowed to talk to his relatives for about 20 minutes. His sister, Sanaa Saif, said the family was “counting the days” to the visit to find out what had happened recently in the prison.

The case overshadows the ongoing world climate conference in Egypt. During meetings with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sharm el Sheikh, the case was addressed by, among others, US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

(sda/dpa)