Overview
- President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi granted a presidential pardon on September 22, releasing Abdel Fattah after his latest incarceration began in 2019.
- Five other people detained for political reasons were also pardoned following a formal request from Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights.
- Abdel Fattah was sentenced in December 2021 to five years for “spreading false news,” a term his family says should have ended in 2024 if pre-trial detention were credited.
- British officials pressed for his release, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling al-Sisi multiple times and Foreign Secretary David Lammy engaged, as Abdel Fattah has held UK citizenship since 2021 through his mother, Laila Soueif.
- Egyptian authorities have offered no clear rationale for the decision, which rights advocates view as a significant test of the treatment of dissent.