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1h ago

Alaa Abd el-Fattah Freed After Sisi Issues Presidential Pardon

The clemency followed a rights council petition submitted after a court struck his name from Egypt’s terrorism list.

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Prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah stands in a cage during a verdict hearing for 21 people over an unauthorized street protest in 2013, in a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 23, 2015. (AP Photo)
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Overview

  • The 43-year-old activist was released early Tuesday, his family said, a day after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned him and five other prisoners.
  • Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights petitioned for clemency on health and humanitarian grounds and later welcomed the decision.
  • A Cairo criminal court recently removed his name from the terrorism list, citing a lack of evidence of links to the Muslim Brotherhood, and his lawyer says that could enable travel.
  • UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said she strongly welcomed the pardon and said Britain looks forward to his return to the UK.
  • His detention included a 2021 five-year sentence for “spreading false news,” a delayed 2024 release due to uncredited pretrial detention, and repeated hunger strikes by him and his mother that drew international pressure.