Egypt – Al Manassa, June 25, 2025
Academic Laila Soueif has resumed her partial hunger strike today, more than a month after insisting on continuing a full hunger strike that she began in late September, in protest of the continued imprisonment of her son, political activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, despite the fact that his legal sentence ended on September 28.
Soueif returned to a partial strike in response to repeated appeals from her friends and family, most notably human rights lawyer Khaled Ali.
Ali, who represents the Abd El-Fattah family, wrote in a Facebook post urging Laila to return to a partial hunger strike, saying:
“Please give us more time to try again and again until Alaa is released and in your arms. Your struggle, your resilience, and the hunger strike you are waging have become legendary. All your messages have been heard loud and clear. So please, don’t deprive us—your students, friends, and your close and extended family—of your presence.”
Laila Soueif had previously shifted to a partial hunger strike in early March, after 156 days of a full strike demanding her son’s release. Her health had deteriorated so severely that she was hospitalized at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on February 25. Nonetheless, she resumed her full hunger strike on May 20.
Today, Sanaa Seif, Laila’s daughter, announced on Facebook that her mother had shifted back to a partial hunger strike. She wrote:
“They’re giving her a glucose IV drip over 12 hours, and we discussed with the doctors what this form of strike would look like.”
Sanaa added:
“She wants to limit her intake to just 300 calories, but the doctors are saying her muscles are extremely weak—she fell twice yesterday—and there’s no guarantee she’ll be able to stand on her feet again. At her age, rebuilding muscle is difficult.”
She further explained:
“The doctor told her that the human body needs over 2,000 calories a day and that 300 calories is less than what a baby needs. The doctor suggested increasing it to 600—so, two bottles of protein shake instead of one. Mom promised to think about it after a lot of pressure from me, but for now, she’s staying at 300 calories a day.”
Regarding her mother’s health condition, Sanaa said:
“The falls were terrifying, and Mom was forced to use a wheelchair again. But there has been improvement in the swelling. Before receiving the glucose IV, her face was extremely swollen, with fluid buildup around her eyes (edema). Now, the swelling in her face and hands has nearly disappeared, and the rest of the body is also improved.”
