International pressure for the “immediate release” of Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose family fears for his life after he escalated his hunger strike by also refusing water at the opening of COP27, mounted on Tuesday.

After a seven-month hiatus during which he ate just “100 calories a day,” the 40-year-old British-Egyptian stopped drinking water on Sunday as world leaders gathered in Egypt for the opening of the world climate summit.

On Tuesday, a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and raised his plight, UN chief justice Volker Turk and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for his Release.

Abdel Fattah, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for “spreading false news” for reposting a Facebook post about police brutality, made headlines during the UN summit, drawing international attention to Egypt’s legal record.

Abdel Fattah, a key figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, was granted British citizenship this year through his British-born mother, Laila Soueif.

Soueif – who, according to daughter Mona Seif, camped outside the prison for two days hoping to get a letter as proof of life – warns her son that many only have “one or two or three days at most”.

In a message posted to Facebook, Soueif made an appeal to world leaders at the COP27 summit rather than to the Egyptian authorities, who she accused of already having “so much blood on their hands.”

COP27 activists tweeted in droves using the hashtag #FreeAlaa, and several speakers ended their speeches with the words “You Haven’t Been Defeated Yet” — the title of his book, prefaced by Canadian author Naomi Klein.

Sunak said on Monday that the case was “a priority” and demanded that it be “resolved as soon as possible”.

Macron said he received assurances that Sisi “is committed to ensuring that (the) health of Alaa Abdel Fattah is preserved” and that the situation will be resolved “in the coming weeks and months.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that “his release must be possible so that this hunger strike does not end in death”, adding: “We should fear that this could lead to terrible consequences”.

Turk said he “deeply regrets” that Egypt did not release Abdel Fattah and warned that his “life is in grave danger”.

On Tuesday, a press conference chaired by Abdel Fattah’s sister Sanaa Seif – on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh – was disrupted by an Egyptian parliamentarian.

“We are talking about an Egyptian national who is being held for a crime, he is not a political prisoner,” said pro-government lawmaker Amr Darwish, who was escorted from a COP27 hall by UN security forces. “Don’t try to use the West against Egypt.”

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president, told CNBC television that Abdel Fattah – whose dual citizenship Cairo does not recognize – has access to “all necessary supplies in prison”.

Sanaa Seif said Shoukry’s talk of “care” raised concerns that her brother might be “force-fed” with IV fluids.

“Is he tied to a bed against his will, to IV fluids?” She said.

Since Cairo was announced as host of the COP27 climate summit last year, Cairo has faced increasing criticism over its long-bemoaned human rights record.

Three Egyptian journalists also continued their hunger strike for a second day, demanding “the release of all political prisoners in Egypt”.

Human rights groups say there are about 60,000 such prisoners, a claim disputed by Cairo.

Abdel Fattah’s continued detention comes despite Egypt having granted presidential pardons to a total of 766 political prisoners since reactivating a pardons policy in April this year, according to data compiled by Amnesty.

But over the same period, almost twice as many have been jailed for their activism, Amnesty says.