Laila Soueif is a mathematician, a university professor, a political activist. But as she slumped in a folding chair outside the gates of the British prime minister’s office on day 129 of a hunger strike, she was just a mother — a mom trying to win freedom for her son, a pro-democracy activist who has spent more than five years in an Egyptian prison. Alaa Abd el-Fattah is accused of “spreading false news” on social media. Sacrificing her very self is the only way Soueif sees to focus attention on what she says is the unjust imprisonment of her son (AP Video by Kwiyeon Ha).
A mother pleads for Britain’s help in freeing son from Egyptian prison, one day of hunger at a time
Laila Soueif is a mathematician, a university professor, a political activist. But as she slumped in a folding chair outside the gates of the British prime minister’s office on day 129 of a hunger strike, she was just a mother — a mom trying to win freedom for her son, a pro-democracy activist who has spent more than five years in an Egyptian prison. Alaa Abd el-Fattah is accused of “spreading false news” on social media. Sacrificing her very self is the only way Soueif sees to focus attention on what she says is the unjust imprisonment of her son (AP Video by Kwiyeon Ha).