The British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released from jail after serving six years for sharing a Facebook post.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, granted him his freedom after intensive lobbying by the UK government and pressure from Egypt’s national human rights council.
Early on Tuesday morning his campaign said in a statement that Abd el-Fattah was released from Wadi Natron prison and was now in his home in Cairo.
“I can’t even describe what I feel,” his mother, Laila Soueif, said from her house in Giza as she stood next to her son surrounded by family and friends. “We’re happy, of course. But our greatest joy will come when there are no [political] prisoners in Egypt,” she added.
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper welcomed the news, saying: “I’m 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.”
Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, a state-funded body, also welcomed the decision, saying it signalled a growing emphasis on swift justice.
Peter Greste, an Australian journalist who was imprisoned alongside Abd el-Fattah, told Australian Associated Press: “It’s absolutely wonderful news, I’m absolutely overjoyed, I think it vindicates all the work and the efforts of the people who lined up behind him.
“I think it’s one of the most egregious cases of political imprisonment that I know, Alaa is an extraordinary human being who never should have been imprisoned in the first place.
“I’m just overjoyed because I know better than anyone what that feeling is like and I can’t wait to speak in person,” he added.
Prof Greste had participated in a hunger strike alongside Abd el-Fattah’s mother in London in January to bring attention to his case.
Amnesty International’s Erika Guevara Rosas said the release was welcome but long overdue. “His pardon ends a grave injustice and is a testament to the tireless efforts of his family and lawyers, including his courageous mother Laila Soueif and activists all over the world who have been relentlessly demanding his release,” she said.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is known to have telephoned Sisi three times to lobby for Abd el-Fattah’s release. His national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, also called for his release as did the former foreign secretary David Lammy. It appears a growing warmth in British-Egyptian official relations – including over how to handle the Palestine question – may have played a role in the president’s decision.
Abd el-Fattah’s 69-year-old mother was admitted to hospital in London twice after going on hunger strikes to try to secure his release. The prominent activist and maths professor also held vigils outside the Foreign Office and Downing Street, saying she was prepared to die to achieve her son’s release.
The campaign was also led by Abd el-Fattah’s two sisters, Mona and Sanaa, and other family members. They tried to keep a low profile once the possibility of his release became known, fearing that anything they might say could upset a delicate process. After hearing news of her brother’s impeding release, Mona issued a short tweet in Arabic saying: “My heart will explode.”
Abd el-Fattah’s pardon was reported by al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egypt’s intelligence service. It said: “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. The pardon includes … Alaa Ahmed Seif El-Islam Abd el-Fattah.”
The human rights council had recommended seven prisoners for release but its recommendations are not always followed.
The chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear Alaa has received a pardon.
“Laila, Mona, Sanaa and Alaa’s entire family’s tireless campaign for his release has been incredibly moving. Their love for him was clear when I met Sanaa last year. I am so glad they will get to see him come home.”
A writer and supporter of the Arab spring, Abd el-Fattah has been in jail since 2019. In 2021, he was sentenced to five years but the authorities claimed the two years he spent in pre-trial detention did not count toward his sentence. He was convicted of spreading false news and harming Egypt’s national interest. A UN panel found the allegation stemmed from Abd el-Fattah sharing a Facebook post about the death of a prison inmate.
With Reuters
