(Photo By Aaron T.Rose\DNE File)
The health of detained and hunger-striking activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has deteriorated but is stable according to his activist sister Mona Seif.
Today will be Abdel Fattah’s 79th day on hunger strike in protest of his detention and the controversial law regulating protests, according to a message from his wife Manal Bahey El-Din on Twitter. On Monday he was transferred to Tora Prison hospital as his sugar level dropped to below 50; he is also known to be diabetic.
Via a short statement on Facebook, Mona Seif confirmed that Abdel Fattah was transferred to the prison hospital. However, she said “his state is stable now but he will stay in the hospital”. The software developer is one of Egypt’s most prominent activists and has repeatedly been detained and faced charges which his supporters say are politically motivated attempts to silence dissent.
Abdel Fattah is being retried alongside 24 other defendants accused of violating the Protest Law in a case known as the Shura Council trial, relating to events in November 2013. Abdel Fattah is also charged with attacking a police officer and stealing his radio.
However, the defence lawyer in the case has stated that some of the evidence presented in the trial is forged and much of it does not support the previous guilty verdict. Lawyer Taher Aboul Nasr reported that the cell phone records of the police officer demonstrate he was speaking on his mobile at the time of the alleged assault.
The family of Abdel Fattah also reported that at a retrial session on Saturday, the judge allowed the prosecution to introduce a knife as new evidence into the case, the relevance of which they claim to be “clearly forged”.
