British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released from prison in Egypt after spending more than a decade behind bars, following a presidential pardon issued by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Mr Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif – also a British citizen – has campaigned tirelessly for his release, and earlier this year nearly died on a hunger strike that lasted for more than 280 days, according to medics.
“I can’t even describe what I feel,” Ms Soueif said as she stood next to her son.
The 43-year-old writer and father had become one of Egypt’s most prominent political prisoners, having spent most of his adult life in jail on what human rights groups said were trumped-up charges. While behind bars, he missed the birth of his son, Khaled, and also the death of his father Ahmed Seif al-Islam, who was a prominent human rights lawyer.
Mr Abd el-Fattah was finally released at 1am on Tuesday local time, calling his family after he had been driven to Cairo from Wadi el-Natrun prison, just south of the capital.
“We’re happy, of course. But our greatest joy will come when there are no [political] prisoners in Egypt,” Ms Soueif said. Social media posts showed Mr Abd el-Fattah, wearing a yellow T-shirt, embracing his mother.
His younger sister, Sanaa Seif, who was waiting outside the prison for him all evening, later wrote on Facebook: “Alaa is home. He called me from our neighbour’s number while we were at the prison waiting. We’re on our way back to him.”
Later, his other sister Mona shared photos of the family in an emotional embrace at their flat in Cairo, writing: “An exceptionally kind day. Alaa is free.”
“The 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,” she wrote.
News of Mr Abd el-Fattah’s release came after it was confirmed that President Sisi had granted him a full pardon. The president, who was formerly Egypt’s military chief, has ruled the country with an iron grip since coming to power following a military coup in 2013.
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said earlier that she “strongly” welcomed the news that Mr Abd el-Fattah had been pardoned, adding: “I’m grateful to President Sisi for this decision. We look forward to Alaa being able to return to the UK and reunite with his family.”
Amir Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, welcomed Mr Abd el-Fattah’s “long overdue” release but cautioned that there are thousands of other political prisoners still behind bars.
“Though we celebrate his pardon, thousands of people like Alaa are still languishing in Egyptian jails simply for exercising their right to freedom of speech,” he said.
“Hopefully his release will act as a watershed moment, and provide an opportunity for Sisi’s government to end the wrongful detention of thousands of peaceful critics.”
Mr Abd el-Fattah comes from a well-known family of activists, writers, and intellectuals, who have campaigned tirelessly for human rights for decades. They have also spearheaded gruelling years of advocacy for his release, with his mother enacting lengthy hunger strikes, camping outside 10 Downing Street, and eventually meeting British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year to lobby on her son’s behalf.
During the course of her recent 287-day hunger strike, which ended in July, Ms Soueif was hospitalised at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. She came close to death on two occasions, in late February and again in June.
Mr Abd el-Fattah has also staged multiple hunger strikes while in detention, most recently in early September, to protest against his imprisonment and in solidarity with his mother.
Home. pic.twitter.com/4ocjR6garo
— Free Alaa (@FreedomForAlaa) September 22, 2025
A former blogger, Mr Abd el-Fattah became one of the most recognisable faces of the 2011 Arab spring uprising, which led to the ousting of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. He had already been detained before the uprising and was repeatedly arrested in the turbulent years that followed.
However, it was his outspoken criticism of the crackdown on dissent after the then General Sisi violently seized power that led to his longest prison sentences. In 2014, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting without permission – later reduced to five years.
He was released in 2019 but remained on parole. Later that year, he was arrested again and accused of spreading false news after sharing a social media post about a prisoner’s death. He was sentenced to another five-year term.
After he finished his full term in 2024, his mother intensified her campaign. However, prosecutors decided to discount the year he had spent in pre-trial detention and insisted he should remain in custody until January 2027.
Despite numerous international campaigns calling for his release – particularly during the Cop27 climate summit, which was hosted by Egypt in 2022 – the outlook appeared bleak.
John Casson, a former British ambassador to Egypt, had called for Mr Abd el-Fattah’s release, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe spoke out in support of his family. Numerous celebrities have supported the campaign, and a ruling from the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) declared Mr Abd el-Fattah’s imprisonment unlawful and called for his release.
The only chink of hope on the horizon emerged in September, when President Sisi ordered officials to examine the possibility of a pardon. It followed the removal earlier this year of Mr Abd el-Fattah’s name from Egypt’s “terrorism” list, which paved the way for his release.
