9th day of hunger strike: Much better today but yesterday was hard. Generally, Im starting to feel the impact of starvation: general numbness, slowness of movement and thought, some muscular pain, and a little imbalance The good thing is that I dont feel angry anymore, at least temporarily, which must be a relief for all around me :) Of course all these minor difficulties do not compare with the pain and health risks undertaken by the young men and women in prison. One case in particular is in eminent danger right now: Ahmed Douma. Douma is a 26 year old journalist, poet and political activist. Passionate, impulsive and brave, he started to get involved in politics at the age of 16. He was imprisoned and tortured by the Mobarak regime more than 10 times, including once when he led a group of anti-war activists to go to Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The torture he was subjected to was so brutal that he came out of prison once with a temporary neurotic paralysis. Douma was imprisoned again and again: by the SCAF (military council) after the January revolution, by Morsi after he took position, and now by Sisi, serving a 2-year sentence, in solitary confinement, for illegal demonstration in front of a court house he went to in solidarity with his colleague Ahmed Maher who is in prison for the same reason. Ahmed Douma went on hunger strike on 20 August and continued his strike until 29 September because his stomach ulcer pain became unbearable and he started to bleed. During the past few days his health deteriorated quickly and he became mostly unconscious and the bleeding continued. The judge who tried him, an ex-police officer called Mohamed Nagy Shehata, issued an order that he cannot be moved out of prison for any reason without his approval. For three days, Doumas family and lawyers, human rights organisations and doctors have been urging the authorities to allow him to enter a hospital. This happened only last night, probably when they realised that he might be actually dying. Please do something to save this young mans life, it is one life I know and so many other lives have and are being wasted, but it is a life we can win.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 09:40:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015