Egyptian President Pardons Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and Others

On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a presidential pardon for six convicts, including political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. The pardon came in response to an appeal from Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights.

The pardon included the following individuals: Said Magli el-Dou Aliwa, Karam Abdel Samie Ismail el-Saadani, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Alaa Ahmed Seif el-Islam Abdel Fattah Hamad, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif, and Mansour Abdel Gaber Ali Abdel Razeq.

The National Council for Human Rights had pleaded with the president to issue the pardon, citing the "critical family circumstances" of the convicts' families. The council stated that this act would provide a "very important moral boost" to their relatives.

Despite having completed his sentence last year, the 42-year-old activist, who holds both Egyptian and British citizenship, had remained in prison. His family had appealed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for help in securing his release.

Alaa Abdel Fattah has been arrested multiple times over the past decade. After a brief period of freedom following his release in 2011, he was arrested again in 2013 and sentenced to more than five years in prison. He was later re-arrested in September 2019 and sentenced to another five years in 2021.