Alaa Abd El Fattah is an Egyptian blogger, writer and a high-profile political activist for human rights and democracy. He is also one of the most well-known political prisoners of the Egyptian revolutionary era, having spent much of the last decade imprisoned merely for speaking out on behalf of basic human rights and democracy.
Alaa completed his five years sentence on September 30, but he was not released, because the Egyptian authorities are not counting the two years of pretrial detention. To protest this illegal extension of Alaa’s imprisonment, his mother, Laila Soueif, herself a renowned human rights activist and a professor at Cairo University, began a hunger strike.
The situation is intolerable for Alaa, his son Khaled, and the entire family, leaving Laila no choice at this point but to put her own life at risk to raise awareness and demand the government release her son.
The family are both Egyptian and UK citizens. To help raise awareness and put pressure not just on the Egyptian government but also the UK government, we are asking people around the world to join Laila's hunger strike in support of Alaa, by signing up publicly to fast for one day in the coming month in solidarity with her and Alaa.
1. Select one of the available dates
2. Register your intent to strike through the form below
3. We will contact you the day before your strike day to remind you and offer a template post
4. Announce your participation on the day of your strike (you can use the template or write your own post)
6. We will share a screenshot of your post (we will redact your name if you ask)
7. Forego food only for 24 hours; you should still drink water and other beverages
