CAIRO
An Egyptian court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the U.S. Consulate in Cairo to release Egyptian-American activist Mohamed Sultan, who is said to have been on a hunger strike for 270 days to protest his ongoing detention.
The U.S. Consulate's appeal came after Sultan's case was brought up at a recent meeting in New York between Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi and U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, the judge at a Cairo criminal court said.
The appeal was rejected during a court session in which Sultan and 50 co-defendants face charges of committing violence.
Sultan was transferred to the courtroom on the outskirts of Cairo by an ambulance, an Anadolu Agency reporter has learned.
He was absent from the courtroom during trial proceedings, however, which were postponed to November 5.
It was the fourth time within one month that the court rejected appeals for Sultan's release pending trial.
The judge said the letter from the U.S. Consul, referred to court by the prosecutor-general, had stressed Washington's concern about the humanitarian aspects – far from political considerations – of Sultan's case.
Sultan has been admitted to a prison hospital more than once within the past month, according to family members.
On October 15, an emaciated Sultan arrived to the trial's first session in an ambulance, from which he was carried into the courtroom on a hospital stretcher.
Sultan, who holds dual Egyptian-U.S. citizenship, is said to have been on hunger strike since January 26 to protest his ongoing detention.
Sultan was arrested from his home in August of last year after security forces violently dispersed two protest camps set up by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, killing hundreds of demonstrators in the process.
Before his arrest, Sultan had been an active member of the "Anti-Coup Alliance," a component of the pro-Morsi National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy.
Since the army ousted Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader – Egypt's military-backed government has waged a harsh crackdown on political dissent that has left hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.
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