For over 140 days, Laila Soueif has been on a hunger strike, refusing to eat anything but herbal tea, black coffee, and rehydration salts. Her mission? To bring attention to her son’s unjust imprisonment in Egypt. The 68-year-old mother has lost a staggering 55 pounds since she began her strike on September 29—the day her son was supposed to be released. But instead of seeing her son walk free, she has been left with nothing but silence from Egyptian authorities.
Her son, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist, has spent much of the last 14 years behind bars. His latest offense? Simply “liking” a Facebook post that described the torture happening inside Egyptian prisons. That single action led to his current five-year prison sentence following a trial in an emergency security court. Abd el-Fattah has been in custody since 2019, but when his scheduled release date came up last September, Egyptian officials refused to count the two years he had already spent in pre-trial detention. Instead, they pushed his release date to January 3, 2027.
Determined to fight for her son’s freedom, Soueif took her protest to the steps of the British government. In December, she began camping outside the Foreign Office every weekday, hoping to force officials to take notice. When that didn’t yield results, she shifted her protest to the iconic black door of 10 Downing Street, home to the British Prime Minister. Her persistence finally paid off—on Friday morning, she sat face-to-face with Prime Minister Keir Starmer inside his office.
Starmer later confirmed their meeting in a statement released on Sunday. “We will continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and press for his release,” he assured. He also emphasized his commitment to doing “all that I can” to secure Abd el-Fattah’s freedom. This marks a significant step, as it was the first time the British Prime Minister had personally met with Soueif.
This mother’s unwavering determination highlights the lengths to which a parent will go to save their child. “The great majority of mothers are prepared to die for their children; it just takes different forms,’’ she remarked earlier this month. “Most mothers, if their children are in actual danger, you’re prepared to die.’’ Her words are a powerful testament to a mother’s love and the extreme sacrifices she is willing to make.
Abd el-Fattah is not just any political prisoner—he is one of Egypt’s most well-known pro-democracy activists, a key figure in the 2011 uprising that led to the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak. Since then, Egypt’s political landscape has become even more repressive, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi cracking down on dissent. Human rights organizations report that thousands of critics of el-Sissi’s government have been imprisoned under dire conditions following unfair trials. Abd el-Fattah’s case is just one of many, but his mother refuses to let him become another forgotten statistic.
With the British government now pledging to push Egypt on this issue, hope lingers that pressure from the international community may finally force Egyptian authorities to reconsider Abd el-Fattah’s imprisonment. But until that happens, one thing is certain—Laila Soueif is not giving up. Her fight for justice is relentless, and she’s willing to risk everything for the freedom of her son.
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