Ahmed Maher, the jailed former head of the April 6 Youth Movement, has broken his hunger strike, the group said in a statement on Monday.

Maher, who stopped eating on 15 September, will pause his strike until his next appeal session on 27 January.

He is serving a three-year jail term – along with two other prominent activists, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel – on charges of holding unauthorised demonstrations and using force against the police.

Many activists, in and out of jail, are on hunger strike to protest lengthy preventative detention and demand amending the protest law which they deem too restrictive and which has seen hundreds arrested under its provisions.

Among those on strike is Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Sanaa Seif and others in different lawsuits. April 6 co-founder Ahmed Douma has also been on strike with a deteriorating health condition.

A Cairo court banned all activities of the April 6 Youth Movement, ruling on a lawsuit that accused the group of espionage and defaming the Egyptian state.

The movement, which played an important role in the January 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, was subject to a campaign of defamation that accused its members of being agents of foreign countries, paid to stir instability in the country.

The move was criticised by rights advocates, who say the ruling was part of a crackdown on dissent.