The retrial date for detained blogger Maikel Nabil, accused of "insulting” Egypt’s armed forces, has been set for Tuesday, 18 October, at Cairo's infamous C28 military court.

On Tuesday, a military appellate court revoked an earlier three-year jail sentence handed down against the blogger and ordered his retrial. 

Upon learning that Nabil would not be released until his retrial, the activist's brother, Mark, expressed fear the young activist might die before Tuesday. Nabil has been on hunger strike for the last 52 days, vowing to abstain from eating food until his release from prison. 

Nabil’s family, meanwhile, has sent several requests to state officials – including head of the ruling military council Field-Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Interior Minister Mansour El-Eissawy– for the detained blogger to be transferred to hospital. The requests, however, have gone unanswered, they say. 

Mark says his family will continue to press authorities to transfer his brother to hospital for treatment. He went on to note that his brother was currently suffering from liver failure and fatigue, and that he was having difficulty speaking, standing and walking. 

Nabil was arrested in March after publishing a blog post entitled, “The people and army were never one hand,” in a reference to the popular chant – repeated ad nauseum in the wake of the revolution – stressing the public's trust in the military.