Mohamed Soltan

Mohamed Soltan
Mohamed Soltan
Born Mohamed Soltan
circa 1988[1]
Alma mater Ohio State University
Known for Activism

Mohamed Soltan (Arabic: محمد سلطان‎‎, born circa 1988[1]), an Egyptian-American dual citizen who is a political activist in Egypt. He was one of the media spokesmen for the camp in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, where protesters called for the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.[2] He was arrested along with 3 other youths by Egyptian security forces on 27 August 2013.[3] Soltan has been charged with a number of terror- and conspiracy-related charges in connection with his participation in demonstrations against Morsi's ouster.

In January 26, 2014, he entered into a hunger strike to protest his detention by the Egyptian authorities.[4] He was released and sent back to the US on May 31, 2015. His hunger strike lasted more than 400 days.[5]

Personal life

The Soltan family moved from Egypt to the United States in the mid-1990s, when Mohamed was a young boy. The family lived mostly in the Midwest — in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio — where Soltan’s father, Salah Soltan, taught at various Islamic institutes. Salah Soltan had been a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt although his family claimed Mohamed was not a member of that group.[6]

After graduating from Ohio State University with a degree in economics in 2012, Mohamed Soltan returned to Egypt, where his mother was receiving treatment for cancer. He got a job at an Egyptian petroleum services company.[4] His father served in the Morsi administration.[7]

Arrest and hunger strike

He was among the media spokesmen for the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square protesters calling for the reinstatement of deposed President Morsi. On 14 August 2013, after a police operation to disperse the protest camp, he was injured while speaking to a television reporter.[4]

On 27 August, he was arrested and held by the police, on the grounds that he was in possession of documents urging members of the army and police to defect.[4]

At Soltan’s first appearance in front of a judge on 26 January 2014, Egypt’s public prosecutor did not present evidence incriminating him in the “operations room” plot — but the judge renewed his detention anyway. This caused him to take the decision to hunger strike.[4]

According to a Guardian report citing an independent medical report facilitated by the US embassy, Soltan had lost at least a third of his bodyweight and was unable to stand unassisted on his 100th day of hunger strike in jail.[8]

On 27 May 2014, a video showing Soltan was released by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in which Soltan asks President Obama and the international community for help.[9] [10]

Reactions

A US embassy official has said embassy representatives have visited Soltan several times at the Tora prison outside Cairo and have been present at Soltan’s hearings.[4]

Soltan’s family has accused the U.S. government of not doing enough to push Egyptian authorities to resolve or drop his case, which they say is politically motivated.[4] Supporters of Soltan have also called the charges against him to be politically motivated.[1]

The hunger strike by Soltan has sparked criticism of the Egyptian authorities on social media and led to mass petitions and demonstrations to highlight his imprisonment.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hunger-Striking American Mohamed Soltan Faces Egyptian Court". NBC News. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Egyptian Military Crackdown Leads to Arrest of American Citizen". TIME. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. ↑
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Egypt: American on hunger strike in Cairo prison". Washington Post. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mohamed Soltan, U.S. Citizen Imprisoned in Egypt, Is Released" aljazeera online, may 31, 2015
  6. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/world/middleeast/mohamed-soltan-us-citizen-imprisoned-in-egypt-is-released.html
  7. ↑ Erin Cunningham (3 May 2014). "Egypt: American on hunger strike in Cairo prison". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Fears for US citizen on hunger strike in Egyptian jail as health worsens". The Guardian. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "American hunger striker in Egypt makes video appeal to Obama". Middle East Eye. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  10. 1 2 "American on hunger strike in Egypt demands action" (The Stream). Al Jazeera. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
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