{"id":52717,"date":"2025-09-23T00:33:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T04:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-freed-after-sisi-pardon\/23\/09\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T00:33:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T04:33:58","slug":"egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-freed-after-sisi-pardon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-freed-after-sisi-pardon\/23\/09\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah freed after Sisi pardon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Prominent Egyptian-British human rights activist <span>Alaa Abd El-Fattah<\/span> has been freed after spending most of the past 12 years in prison, his family said, a day after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi <span>pardoned him<\/span> and five other prisoners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI can\u2019t even describe what I feel,\u201d Abd El-Fattah\u2019s mother, Laila Soueif, said from her house in Giza early on Tuesday as she stood next to her son, surrounded by jubilant family and friends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWe\u2019re happy, of course. But our greatest joy will come when there are no [political] prisoners in Egypt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Considered to be among the most high-profile political prisoners in Egypt, Abd El-Fattah\u2019s lengthy imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes had <span>prompted international pleas<\/span> for the Egyptian government to release him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The former blogger had been detained before the Arab Spring uprising that toppled Egypt\u2019s hardline leader, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011 and during the years of upheaval that followed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But it was his criticism of government crackdowns on political dissidents after then-army chief el-Sisi gained power in Egypt in 2014 that landed him his lengthiest prison stints by far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2014, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting without permission. He was briefly released in 2019, but remained on parole, and was arrested again later that year and sentenced to another five-year term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Friends, family and supporters shared photos on social media of the activist after his release, showing a smiling Abd El-Fattah embracing his mother and other relatives.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, centre, who was released from prison after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a presidential pardon for him, stands next to his mother, Laila Soueif, left, and sister, Sanaa, at their home in Giza, Egypt, on September 23, 2025 [Mohamed Abd El Ghany\/Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His sister, Mona Seif, celebrated her brother\u2019s release on social media: \u201cThe world is full of nightmares, injustice, violence, and many things that break the heart.. but we can take a breath and give happiness a chance to fill our hearts.. and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOh Lord, the same joy for the families of all the detainees,\u201d she wrote in a separate post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cCan you imagine if this happened, how much beauty and happiness would fill our world in a single moment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Abd El-Fattah\u2019s lengthy detention had become emblematic of the fraying of Egypt\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI strongly welcome the news that Alaa Abd El-Fattah has received a Presidential pardon,\u201d United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI\u2019m grateful to President Sisi for this decision. We look forward to Alaa being able to return to the UK, to be reunited with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Abd El-Fattah, who obtained UK citizenship through his mother in 2021, comes from a family of well-known activists and intellectuals who had launched several campaigns for his release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His mother met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this year to lobby for her son\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Intensifying her campaign in September 2024, when she was expecting her son\u2019s release due to the time he spent in pre-trial detention, Soueif staged a lengthy hunger strike in the UK, ending it only after pleas from her family as her health significantly deteriorated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Starmer had promised he would do everything he could to secure the release of Abd El-Fattah, who has also staged multiple hunger strikes in detention, most recently in early September, to protest against his imprisonment and in solidarity with his mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But his <span>most dramatic hunger strike<\/span> was in 2022, as Egypt hosted the annual United Nations climate summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The strike ended when Abd El-Fattah lost consciousness and was revived with fluids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Egypt\u2019s National Council for Human Rights, a state-funded body, also welcomed his release, saying it signalled a growing emphasis on swift justice for Egyptian authorities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-041131148.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prominent Egyptian-British human rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been freed after spending most of the past 12 years in prison, his<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-freed-after-sisi-pardon\/23\/09\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/QWOAhfUhO0WKYOmiEUw9sw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04NTE7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/al_jazeera_289\/e2cfda18762e35e6df6f9ee62a77df45","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}