Egypt denies jailed dissident on hunger strike

• Egypt’s interior ministry says it has a video of imprisoned dissident Abdel Fattah.
• His family has been pushing for a consular visit from the UK embassy.
• He is currently serving a five-year sentence for “broadcasting false news”.

Egypt’s interior ministry said Thursday that it has a video of imprisoned dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah that “disproves” a report from his family that he has been on a 10-week hunger strike.

The video, which was shot inside his cell, was “delivered to the public prosecution,” according to the ministry.

The 40-year-old activist and blogger, dubbed an icon of Egypt’s 2011 revolution, is on “day 69 of hunger strike,” according to his sister Mona Seif.

Abdel Fattah’s lawyer Khaled Ali, who says he was denied a visit with his client Thursday despite having a permit from the prosecution, demanded an investigation, “to be allowed to see the videos and respond to them”, and an independent medical examination “to prove whether or not he is on hunger strike”.

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The activist gained UK citizenship in April from inside prison, through his British-born mother Laila Soueif. His family has since been pushing for a consular visit from the UK embassy.

In response to the statement, his sister tweeted that the ministry should “share this footage with his family, lawyers and Alaa”, allow a consular visit and investigate reports the family had filed about Abdel Fattah’s condition.

The activist has spent the better part of the past decade behind bars, mainly in the notorious Tora prison, where he launched his hunger strike in early April to protest prison conditions, his family said.

On May 18, following a request from the state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights, the interior ministry transferred Abdel Fattah to the newly built Wadi al-Natroun prison complex, where he was allowed a mattress and books “for the first time in two years”, his family said.

The move raised hopes that authorities were preparing to allow a consular visit, but the UK embassy has yet to release a statement.

Abdel Fattah is currently serving a five-year sentence for “broadcasting false news,” an accusation levelled frequently against Egyptian dissidents.

He had already been in pre-trial detention for two years when he was convicted in December.

According to human rights organizations, Egypt holds approximately 60,000 political prisoners, many of whom are subjected to inhumane treatment.

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