Overview

• Egypt’s presidency announced a decree pardoning Alaa Abd el-Fattah, with five other convicted prisoners also included.
• His lawyer, Khaled Ali, said he expects release from Wadi Natron Prison once the decree is published in the official gazette, likely within two days.
• The decision followed a review of clemency requests from Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights and the earlier removal of his name from the terrorism list.
• British officials repeatedly raised the case with President Sisi, and a UN body deemed Abd el-Fattah’s detention arbitrary.
• Abd el-Fattah, 43, had been serving a five-year term handed down in 2021 for ‘spreading false news’ after prior convictions, and he and his mother carried out hunger strikes during his imprisonment.