Egyptian British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah released after presidential forgiveness

The high-level Egyptian British activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah was released on Tuesday, announced her family, one day after President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi forgive him as well as five other prisoners.

Abd el-Fattah, 43, became the most eminent political prisoner in Egypt after spending a large part of his life in adults in and out of detention because of his activism, and a rare symbol of opposition to a major repression under SISI. His long imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes caused international pleas widespread for his release.

“I can’t even describe what I feel,” said her mother, Laila Soueif, from her house to Giza while she was standing next to her son surrounded by family and friends.

“We are happy, of course. But our greatest joy will come when there are no (political) prisoners in Egypt.”

Laila Soueif and the sister of Alaa Sanaa were waiting outside of Wadi Al-Natroun prison, about 100 kilometers northwest of Cairo, earlier on Monday, hoping that he would be released.

Despite campaigns calling for its release, especially during the COP27 Climate Summit that Egypt organized in 2022, the hopes of its release were only raised when Sisi ordered the authorities in September to study its possible forgiveness. The name of Abd el-Fattah had been deleted from the list of “terrorism” in Egypt of months earlier.

Liberation greeted by Great Britain

Abd el-Fattah, who obtained British citizenship through his mother in 2021, comes from a family of well-known activists and intellectuals who launched several campaigns for his release. His mother met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this year to put pressure on her son.

“I strongly salute the news that Alaa Abd el-Fattah received a presidential pardon,” said British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper. “I am grateful to President SISI for this decision. We are impatiently awaiting Alaa to be able to return to the United Kingdom, to find his family.”

The State National Human Rights Council, an organization funded by the State, also praised the decision, saying that this has reported an increasing accent on rapid justice.

The former blogger had been detained before the uprising of the Arab Spring who overthrew the head of the Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and during the upheaval that followed.

But it was the criticism of Abd el-Fattah on the repression against the dissidents after the head of the Sissi weapon, then, took the power which landed him from afar.

Accused of distributing false news

In 2014, Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to 15 years in prison for having protested without authorization, later reduced to five years.

He was released in 2019 but remained in parole and was arrested again later that year, accused of having disseminated false news after sharing an article on social networks on the death of a prisoner. He was then sentenced to another five -year term.

Her mother Soueif intensified her campaign in September 2024, when she expected her release because of the time spent in detention before the trial. Prosecutors argued that he should remain in detention until January 2027.

Soueif organized a long hunger strike in Great Britain, only ending it after the pleas of his family, because his health has deteriorated considerably. Starmer promised that he would do everything he could to guarantee his release.

Abd el-Fattah also organized multiple hunger strikes in detention, more recently in early September, to protest against his imprisonment and in solidarity with his mother.