‘The Egyptian regime thinks it can silence all opposition’: Leila Soueif

Sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison for “spreading false information,” Alaa Abdel Fattah should have been released at the end of September. However, the sentence of Egypt's most emblematic political prisoner was extended until 2026, as the prosecutor refused to count his two years of pre-trial detention. His mother, Leila Soueif, a mathematician and prominent figure in the 2011 Arab Spring, has been on hunger strike ever since. Going on hunger strike is her “last weapon” to secure the release of her son, who has been detained almost continuously for the past 10 years and had faced multiple indictments before that. His prolonged imprisonment has turned him into a symbol of repression under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's regime. Read also ‘Greater Israel’ emblem surfaces on Israeli soldier uniforms You've been on a hunger...