Middle East News

Jailed Egyptian activist's mother begins hunger strike

Nov 7, 2011, 8:00 GMT

Cairo- The mother of an activist, jailed by military prosecutors in Egypt for allegedly attacking soldiers, has embarked on a hunger strike in protest, newspapers reported Monday.

Laila Sueif said her son, Alaa Abdel Fatah, was being jailed 'unjustifiably'.

The science professor added in a statement that Abdel Fatah's jailing was a punishment for his opinions critical of the military rulers.

On October 30, military prosecutors ordered Abdel Fatah to jail for 15 days for questioning on charges of 'disturbing social security and inciting attacks on military forces' during largely Christian protests in central Cairo on October 9.

Abdel Fatah reportedly refused to answer the questions posed by the military prosecutors, questioning their authority to probe civilians.

Local and foreign human rights have urged the military rulers to release Abdel Fatah and stop referring civilians to military courts, whose rulings cannot be appealed.

About 12,000 civilians have been prosecuted by the military since former president Hosny Mubarak was toppled by a popular uprising in February, according to Egyptian human rights advocates.