File Photo: Prominent Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, grieves as he receives condolences for his father, Ahmed Seif, at Omar Makram Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 30, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)
Detained human rights activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah was transferred to prison hospital on Monday after his ongoing hunger strike began to take a toll on his health.
Abdel-Fattah's wife Manal Bahey El-Din wrote on Twitter that "his sugar measures (sic) were very low so they transferred him to the Mazraa prison hospital."
According to Bahey El-Din, Monday marks the 78th day of Abdel-Fattah's hunger strike.
The activist, along with other prisoners, is protesting the controversial law regulating public protests which he was jailed for violating, as well as what he described as the maltreatment of prisoners.
Abdel-Fattah is being retried, along with 24 other defendants, in the case known as the Shura Council case. They are accused of protesting, assaulting a policeman, inciting riots, blocking traffic and vandalising public property in November 2013.
He was arrested at his home in November 2013, subsequently released in March 2014 on bail, and then jailed again on 11 June after a court sentenced him and the other defendants to 15 years.
Alaa and his co-defendants received the maximum sentence in absentia. His lawyers said he was intentionally prevented by guards from attending the court session thus forcing judges to issue a verdict in absentia.
On 15 September the appeal presiding judge in his appeal recused himself thus necessitating, based on Egyptian law, a retrial.
At this point, the defendants were released on bail.
At the restart of the new trial in October, the court ordered that all defendants be re-arrested.
The trial's next session is scheduled for 5 February.
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