2 Canadians detained in Egypt end hunger strike
Posted October 2, 2013 9:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two Canadians who have been detained in an Egypt jail have ended their hunger strike after 17 days.
Toronto filmmaker John Greyson and London, Ont., Dr. Tarek Loubani resumed eating solid foods on Wednesday under medical supervision.
According to a blog by friend Justin Podurs, both Greyson and Loubani saw doctors as well as staff from the Canadian embassy.
The two began their hunger strike on Sept. 16, exactly a month after they were arrested to call attention to their detention leading up to their hearing on Sept. 30 and to demand increased exercise time, which they were able to obtain.
Last week the men made their first ever comments on their ordeal. In a statement, Greyson and Loubani said that they had been subject to degrading conditions including being beaten and dumped in a squalid, cockroach-infested jail cell crammed with others picked up the same day they were.
They said they had left their Cairo hotel to observe an anti-government demonstration last month when Loubani heard calls for a doctor and began treating wounded demonstrators while Greyson began recording the bloody unrest on video.
The men were later arrested by police while heading back to their hotel.
Foreign Affairs says it is doing all it can to try and secure their release. Foreign Minister John Baird said on Twitter that he raised the case of Loubani and Greyson in a “high-level engagement” with his Egyptian counterpart Friday night.
A spokesman for the junior minister responsible for consular affairs has said the men’s well-being is a primary concern.
It was announced on Sept. 28 that their detention would be extended another 45 days.
With files from The Canadian Press
