COURT BATTLE: The wife of Dr Amin has vowed to go on hunger strike in bid to get Saudi official to revoke ruling.

The wife of an Egyptian medic jailed for illegally prescribing morphine to a Saudi princess is planning a hunger strike in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Cairo in a bid to secure her husband’s release.

Fatheyya Shehata Hendawi said she is desperate to publicise the plight of Dr Raouf Amin to force the Egyptian government to intensify pressure on Saudi Arabia to revoke the ruling.

Dr Amin has been in jail for more than a year, after being convicted of illegally prescribing morphine to a Saudi princess, leading to her addiction.

The 53-year-old originally received a seven-year jail term and 250 lashes, but the sentence was doubled following an appeal two months ago to 15 years and 1,500 lashes, to be delivered over a 12-month period.

Hendawi said she feared the punishment would kill him.

Dr Amin, who practised in Saudi for more than 20 years, has maintained his innocence, claiming medical records showed the patient had an existing prescription for the painkillers following a riding accident in the US.

“He didn’t prescribe her anything, he tried to lower the dose. He was only overseeing her existing prescription,” Hendawi said.

She has not seen or spoken to her husband in more than a year.

Dr Amin was jailed alongside his colleague, Dr Shawki Ibrahim, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison and an unspecified number of lashes for trading in illegal drugs.

The convictions have sparked a wave of protests across Egypt. The Doctor’s Syndicate in Cairo has threatened demonstrations in support of Dr Amin, while human rights activists have held a sit-in front of the Saudi Embassy.

“We condemn this verdict in the strongest terms and we are making contact with officials in Cairo and Saudi Arabia…to intervene,” said Dr Hamdy El Sayed, head of the Syndicate.

In a statement released to Medical Times, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said the judge had penalised Dr Amin for asserting his right of appeal.

“It is a clear violation against a fair trial, as is guaranteed by international covenants,” the statement read.

The Saudi government broke its silence three weeks ago by warning it would not consider reducing or commuting Dr Amin’s sentence.

In a statement, the government said the doctor was guilty of three charges of dealing in banned drugs and causing addiction, and had carried out “illicit relationships” with a number of women who received the drugs.

The Egyptian government has since announced a freeze on work permits for doctors seeking work in Saudi Arabia.

Hendawi believes only top-level intervention will secure her husband’s release.

“Nothing but the Egypt president will help now,” she said. “The Saudi government has not showed any response to the Egyptian government protests yet.”