Laila Soueif, university professor and mother of activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, decided to go on a hunger strike starting Sunday to protest her son's detention.
Abd El Fattah has been accused of inciting violence on 9 October when the military violently dispersed a protest of mostly Copts in front of the Maspero state TV building. At least 27 protesters were killed, as well as a soldier. Abd El Fattah was also charged of stealing weapons. He has been detained since 30 October.
"I started a hunger strike this morning and I sent a notification to the prosecutor," Soueif told Al-Masry Al-Youm. "I presume a hunger strike could pose a pressure on the amount of time he will be detained for. At the end of the day, this is a simple and straight demand."
Soueif, a long time activist, had published a message to Adel Morsi, the head of the military judiciary in Al-Shorouk daily on Saturday, asking him how can Abdel El Fattah be accused of stealing weapons and yet be only requested to show up for interrogations and not arrested, suggesting that her son is incarcerated for his staunch criticism of the ruling military council.
In a blogpost he smuggled out of prison on Thursday, Abd El Fattah wrote that he got a proposition from his interrogators to be released provided he doesn't criticize Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawy, head of the military council.
"It was a small concession that I rejected. How can I face my family if I had accepted it," he wrote.
