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Alaa Abdel Fatah
Photo: Nariman El-Mofty/AP
Democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is in prison in Egypt, has received a visit from his family for the first time since his hunger strike and his lack of water have ended.
“When we saw him today, he was exhausted, weak and vulnerable.
He was very, very thin," the family said Thursday after the visit.
Abdel Fattah was one of the leaders in the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
In 2013 he was arrested during a protest against a tightened demonstration law and has been in prison almost continuously ever since.
Since May, he had only eaten around 100 calories a day in protest against the conditions in his prison and recently stopped drinking water.
Abdel Fattah started drinking again a few days ago and also ended the hunger strike.
"He has absolutely no idea what's going on in the world outside"
His family has now reported that on the sixth day of going without water, Abdel Fattah collapsed in the shower and then passed out.
When he came to, he was surrounded by people.
Then he was given a sugar solution and electrolytes.
He was also tied up in his cell because he refused a medical examination and banged his head against the wall.
There were no negotiations with the authorities regarding his case and no promises either, the family said.
"He has absolutely no idea what's happening out there in the world." Abdel Fattah began going without water at the beginning of the current world climate conference in the country.
Among others, US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed the case at meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
It was the family's first visit in more than three weeks.
Abdel Fattah turns 41 on Friday.
dop/dpa/AFP