Cairo: The mother and sister of two jailed Egyptian pro-democracy activists ended a 76-day solidarity hunger strike Wednesday that they had undertaken to press for the release of imprisoned government critics.
Activists have used hunger strikes recently to protest the arrest of thousands of people in a sweeping government crackdown on dissent.
In a statement announcing the end of their strike, Muna Saif said the experience made her “truly appreciate more the struggle of the brave detainees in our country’s prisons.”
Saif’s brother Alaa Abdul Fattah, a symbol of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, has spent time in prison under four different Egyptian governments. He is currently facing a retrial on a 15-year year prison sentence for violating a draconian law that bans protests without prior government approval. Her sister Sanaa was convicted for breaking the same law along with 22 other activists and sentenced to three years in prison.
The detention of dozens of young activists, mostly over breaking the contested protest law, over the past year has taken place amid a vicious media campaign to smear their reputation as agents of foreign powers or on the payroll of dubious rights groups in the West.
In a sign of the times, police quickly moved in with tear gas to disperse dozens of demonstrators protesting the military-backed government’s rule as they marched near Tahrir Square Wednesday. A security official said at least 15 protesters were arrested, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The protesters were attempting to commemorate the third anniversary of one of the most brutal confrontations with security forces since the 2011 uprising. The clashes in November 2011 left nearly 50 dead and came to be known as the Mohammad Mahmoud Battle, named after the street were they took place.
Rights groups say dozens of prisoners from across the political spectrum are on hunger strike in protest of ill-treatment and lack of due process.
