Egypt pardons activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, key figure in 2011 uprising, after years behind bars
The pardon follows el-Sisi’s recent directive for officials to review a petition from the National Council for Human Rights seeking clemency for several detainees, including Abd el-Fattah.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Monday granted a presidential pardon to British-Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Abd el-Fattah had been expected to be released after his sentence ended in September 2024, but he remained in custody until the pardon.
The pardon follows el-Sisi’s recent directive for officials to review a petition from the National Council for Human Rights seeking clemency for several detainees, including Abd el-Fattah.
Removed from terrorism list
A Cairo criminal court also recently removed him from the country’s terrorism list, ruling there was no evidence linking him to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
“The Egyptian president issues a pardon for the remainder of the prison sentence for a number of convicted persons, after taking the constitutional and legal procedures in this regard,” said Al-Qahera News, affiliated with Egypt’s state intelligence services.
“The pardon includes... Alaa Ahmed Seif El-Islam Abd el-Fattah,” it added, using his full name.
International pressure on Cairo had been mounting. The British government repeatedly raised Abd el-Fattah’s case, including in talks between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and el-Sisi, while the United Nations called his detention arbitrary and demanded his release.
The pardon frees one of Egypt’s most high-profile dissidents from a prison system criticised by rights groups for mass arrests and harsh conditions, though many other activists remain detained.
Family members also campaigned for his release. His mother, academic and activist Laila Soueif, only recently ended a 10-month hunger strike. Abd el-Fattah himself began a partial hunger strike in March and escalated to a full one at the start of September in solidarity with her.
Who is Abd el-Fattah?
The 43-year-old, a central figure in Egypt’s 2011 uprising, has spent much of the past decade behind bars under every Egyptian administration since the Arab Spring.
He was first imprisoned in 2014 for joining an unauthorised protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer, before being released in early 2019.
Following a later arrest in 2019, Abd el-Fattah was sentenced in December 2021 to five years in prison for “spreading false news” after sharing a Facebook post about alleged torture in Egyptian jails.
He staged his most dramatic hunger strike in 2022 while Egypt hosted a UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, ending only after losing consciousness and being revived with fluids.
At the time, leaders of Britain, France and Germany said they had sought his release in private talks with el-Sisi.
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