Alaa Abdel Fattah is a free man again

After a bitter and prolonged legal struggle, the famous Egyptian-British Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi granted a presidential pardon to six prisoners, including the Egyptian-British blogger and human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, for the remainder of their sentences earlier Monday.

Updated at 23/9/25 : 

Alaa Abdel Fattah was released early Tuesday morning, and he arrived at his house in Dokki from the police station when his family, friends and reporters were waiting for him at the prison. 

So, the family went back, and we saw those wonderful photos and videos.

According to the presidential statement, the pardon was issued in line with constitutional and legal procedures. It came in response to an appeal submitted by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) earlier this month.

The other pardoned prisoners are Saeed Magally Al-Dou Aliwa, Karam Abdel Samee Ismail Al-Saadany, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Khalek Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif, and Mansour Abdel Gaber Ali Abdel Razek.

A veteran activist and programmer, Abdel Fattah spent more than six years in detention, including an additional year served beyond his five-year sentence in violation of the law.

The famous blogger was imprisoned for over five years on charges related to a social media post expressing solidarity with a detainee.

This came only months after completing a separate five-year sentence in a protest-related case, followed by months of probation that required him to spend 12 hours a day at a police station.

In late 2022, Alaa Abdel Fattah obtained British citizenship through his mother, veteran academic and fighter Laila Soueif, who was born in London.

The move aimed to secure consular access and increase international pressure for his release amid his prolonged imprisonment. The British government subsequently raised his case with Egyptian authorities, citing concerns over his health and legal status.

Alaa Abdel Fattah by Sora AI 

As much as I want Alaa Abdel Fattah and his family to live in Egypt, I also want him to take a rest and go to the UK.

Already, I know that in less than a week, he will be leading the pro-Palestine protests there.

I hope this will be a start for a wave of presidential pardons that include the long list of Egyptian political detainees. More than ever, now in this critical time, we need a true political reconciliation. This will be a great start.