AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

The family of the prominent British Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah is stepping up pressure on the British government to secure Alaa’s release from prison in Egypt. They’ve repeatedly called on British officials to prioritize his release above any new trade or economic deals with Egypt and to issue sanctions until Alaa is free.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was in Cairo Thursday, where he met with Egypt’s foreign minister to discuss the Gaza ceasefire, Sudan and other regional issues. Foreign Minister Lammy said on social media, “I repeated my call for the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, so that he can return to his family. We will continue to raise his case,” he said.

Alaa’s mother, the Egyptian British activist, mathematician, professor, Laila Soueif, has now been on hunger strike for 117 days. She spoke to Democracy Now! last month in London.

LAILA SOUEIF: I’m hoping that my hunger strike will create a crisis for both governments, actually. I’m pressuring both governments. I’m binational, and Alaa is binational, so I consider that both governments are responsible for him.

AMY GOODMAN: British Foreign Secretary Lammy met with professor Soueif, Alaa’s mother, in November. He was questioned about Alaa’s case in the British Parliament last year.

DAVID LAMMY: It’s of huge concern, and I pressed him to do more. We have continued to do that with the Egyptians. It’s obviously sensitive because of the situation in Gaza. But I don’t think they’re under any doubt how seriously this is taken by the British system, the government and this Parliament.

AMY GOODMAN: Alaa was due to be released from prison last September after five years behind bars over unfounded charges of spreading false news. Egyptian authorities have refused to count more than two years Alaa spent in pretrial detention toward time served, meaning they won’t release him until 2027. Alaa has spent most of the last decade in seemingly indefinite imprisonment separated from his family.

For more, we go to London, where we’re joined by Peter Greste, the Australian journalist, professor at Macquarie University in Australia, the executive director for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom. Peter Greste was arrested on terrorism charges in 2013 while working for Al Jazeera in Egypt. He met Alaa Abd El-Fattah in prison at the time. Peter was convicted and sentenced to seven years, but released after 400 days after intense international pressure. He’s now joining Alaa’s mother, Laila Soueif, and is on day five of a hunger strike demanding the British government pressure Egypt for the release of his friend Alaa. His op-ed for The Guardian is headlined “I owe Alaa Abd el-Fattah my life, which is why I am going on a hunger strike to help free him.”

Let’s hear from Alaa Abd El-Fattah in a moment. But, Peter, let’s begin with you. We only have a few minutes. Explain how you came to know Alaa, the fact that his mother, the mathematics professor, is on her 117th day of a hunger strike in London, pressuring the British government, as they’re both British Egyptian citizens, to get Alaa out of prison. Tell us who he was and how you knew him, Peter.

PETER GRESTE: So, Alaa is an extraordinary character. I was in prison — I was in Egypt back in the end of 2013 covering the unfolding political crisis there for Al Jazeera, and I was arrested on terrorism charges. I was thrown into solitary confinement in Liman Tora Prison. And one of the first voices that I heard when I went in there was Alaa’s. I was confused. I was scared. I didn’t know what on Earth was going on or even where I — much about where I was. I didn’t speak Arabic. And so, I was very, very disoriented. And Alaa reassured me. He explain what had happened, what his understanding was. He told me where I was. He said that I’m amongst friends. And he also gave me some of the psychological tools that I really needed to survive prison.

After that period of solitary, we often walked up and down the exercise yard together, and I really got a sense of who he was, an extraordinary thinker, political thinker, and a writer. He gave me master classes in Egyptian political theory and history and sociology and so on. And he also inspired me to write two letters that we smuggled out of prison that really described my imprisonment as an attack on press freedom rather than as any judicial process related to anything we had done. And that really framed the campaign that ultimately got me out. And so, for all of those reasons, I quite literally owe Alaa my life.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Peter, you were imprisoned with two other Al Jazeera colleagues, and you got out after a year. Alaa was so active in the Arab Spring, in the Tahrir uprising. Why does he continue to be held? And what is the British government saying? Have they met with him in prison? It is their right, as he is a British Egyptian citizen.

PETER GRESTE: So, Alaa, as you said, was one of the main leaders of the uprising from 2011. He had this extraordinary respect and following amongst ordinary Egyptians, and he inspired literally millions to come out and fill the streets in the protests that eventually toppled Hosni Mubarak. And I think that is why the Egyptian authorities are still keeping him there, because he is the most popular, the most recognized political prisoner in the system, and I think they fear his capacity to mobilize people. They fear his capacity to inspire. The charges, as you mentioned earlier on in your introduction, are completely bogus, false news.

The British government has made strong words. They’ve written letters to President Sisi. We’ve had that meeting from David Lammy, the foreign secretary, just yesterday. And clearly, the authorities, the Egyptian — sorry, the British believe that they’re doing all that they can. But as far as the family is concerned, that’s simply not enough. Words and/or letters and points on agendas are simply not enough. Alaa is still in there, against Egypt’s own laws. The foreign secretary, as far as the family is concerned, really needs to be using more robust economic tools to get Alaa out.

We don’t know — at least as far as I’m aware, Alaa hasn’t had consular access. He hasn’t had any visits from the embassy to date. One of the things that we were hoping for was that David Lammy would insist on a visit himself to see Alaa, but that clearly didn’t happen. So, all in all, I think, as far as the family is concerned, it’s been a rather disappointing meeting. The British government insists it is making robust representations, but as long as Alaa still remains, it seems that it’s just not enough.

AMY GOODMAN: His little boy growing up without him. His mother did visit him a few weeks ago. And Laila herself, professor Soueif, is in the 117th day of her hunger fast, and you’ve now joined her?

PETER GRESTE: Yeah, that’s right. She’s a remarkably tough, resilient, extraordinary woman. But she is now entering the danger zone. The family has been monitoring her vital signs, and, in particular, her blood glucose levels. And it seems that in the last few days, they have dropped rather alarmingly. And we believe that she may well be approaching the danger zone, at 117 days into a hunger strike without any food, without any calories whatsoever. I mean, it’s remarkable that she’s lasted this long, but she is increasingly frail. And everyone is desperately worried for her health.

But, obviously, the whole point of this, as this hunger strike, as we heard from that clip from her earlier in your introduction, is to precipitate a crisis. She does not want to die. This is not a suicide mission from Laila. What she wants is to demand justice. She wants to really put Alaa’s case at the top of the minds of the Egyptian and the British authorities and make sure that Alaa comes home. So — 

AMY GOODMAN: Peter Greste — 

PETER GRESTE: — she’s pretty determined. She’s going to stick this out.

AMY GOODMAN: We have to leave it there. Peter Greste, also on hunger strike, Australian journalist, in solidarity with Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We’ll continue to bring you news of his imprisonment, or perhaps his freedom. I’m Amy Goodman.