Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah granted presidential pardon

After almost six years in prison and hunger strikes by Abd el-Fattah and his mother, the Egyptian-British human rights activist and author Alaa Abd el-Fattah was pardoned.

According to Al Qahera news reports that the announcement was made on Monday in Egypt’s official gazette following a request from the National Council for Human Rights.

Mona Seif, Abd el-Fattah’s sister, wrote, “My heart is going to stop,” in a post on X.

Abd el-Fattah was detained in September 2019 and given a five-year prison sentence in December 2021 for “spreading false news” and harming Egypt’s national interest.

Abd el-Fattah was reportedly the subject of a “grossly unfair trial,” according to rights organizations.

During Egypt’s popular uprising that resulted in the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak after three decades in power, he emerged as a leading pro-democracy activist and blogger.

After being found guilty of breaking protest laws two years prior, when current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coup against Mohamed Morsi, Mubarak’s democratically elected successor, in 2015, he was given a five-year prison sentence.

In a contested 2014 election marred by low turnout and a sweeping crackdown on dissent, El-Sisi won the election. He has since been accused of detaining thousands of those who oppose his rule.