Egypt presidential hopeful on protest hunger strike

CAIRO — Buthaina Kamel, a candidate in Egypt’s presidential vote due to take place next year, said Saturday she was going on hunger strike to demand the release of prisoners jailed by military courts.

By (AFP)

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Published: Sat 19 Nov 2011, 8:59 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 9:34 AM

‘Military cells are full of men who would be better off at home raising their children or looking after their parents... being deprived of your freedom is worse than not having anything to eat,’ she wrote in a statement.

Kamel stressed calls for the release of blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, held since October 30 on charges of having incited violence against the army during a Cairo protest by Coptic Christians that left 25 people dead.

Other activists, including Abdel Fattah’s mother Leila Suweif, have also gone on hunger strike to demand his release.

The army, in charge of Egypt since the February 11 overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, has come in for criticism from rights groups for putting thousands of civilians on trial before military courts.


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