Egypt released activist Alaa Abdel Fattah from prison early on Tuesday after he was pardoned by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi the previous day, his family announced.
Mr Abdel Fattah, 43, was jailed several times over the past decade while campaigning for political reform in public and on social media. He has been in prison for more than six years this time around following his conviction in 2021 of spreading false news that earned him a five-year term.
A software developer and dual British citizen, Mr Abdel Fattah was one of the most prominent voices during Egypt’s 2011 uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down after nearly three decades in power.
Photos posted online by family members showed Mr Abdel Fattah and his mother, mathematics professor Laila Suief, smiling and hugging at the family home in Cairo after he left the Wadi El Natroun north-west of the Egyptian capital.
“Alaa is home, he called me from our neighbour's number while we were at the prison waiting,” his sister Sanaa Seif said on Facebook. “We're on our way back to him.”
Authorities this month said Mr El Sisi was considering a request by the state-funded National Council for Human Rights for Mr Abdel Fattah's release among a list of others. On Monday, the Egyptian leader pardoned Mr Abdel Fattah along with five others.
Mr Abdel Fattah had gone on hunger strike several times during his time in prison. His mother also went on hunger strike this year and needed hospital treatment in London more than once.
His mother and other members of his family tirelessly campaigned for his release, including through sit-ins outside the Downing Street office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper on Monday welcomed the news that Mr Abdel Fattah had received a presidential pardon.
“I'm grateful to President El Sisi for this decision. We look forward to Alaa being able to return to the UK, to be reunited with his family,” she said.
Mr Abdel Fattah, who obtained British citizenship through his mother in 2021, is a member of a highly politicised family.
Besides his mother who is a veteran rights campaigner, his late father Ahmed Seif, who died in 2014, was a rights lawyer and left-wing activist jailed under both Mubarak and his predecessor Anwar Sadat.
Mr Abdel Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 for protesting without permission. Released on probation in 2019, he was detained again later that year.
“My conditions are but a drop in a dark sea of injustice,” he said in November 2019 in a statement to a prosecutor that was later published in selected works in 2021 under the title You Have Not Yet Been Defeated.
Mr Abdel Fattah began a seven-month hunger strike in April 2022, escalating his protest in November that year to coincide with the opening of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.
He ended his protest after collapsing, his family said at the time.
His lawyer, Khalid Ali, argued that his two years in pretrial detention should have been credited towards his latest sentence, making him eligible for release in 2024. But prosecutors rejected this argument, saying he should not be released until January 2027, according to Mr Ali.
It was this delay that prompted his mother to go on hunger strike in September 2024, only ending her protest in July 2025 after many appeals from her family and after losing more than 35 kilograms.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
FIXTURES
Saturday
5.30pm: Shabab Al Ahli v Al Wahda
5.30pm: Khorfakkan v Baniyas
8.15pm: Hatta v Ajman
8.15pm: Sharjah v Al Ain
Sunday
5.30pm: Kalba v Al Jazira
5.30pm: Fujairah v Al Dhafra
8.15pm: Al Nasr v Al Wasl
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Match statistics
Dubai Sports City Eagles 8 Dubai Exiles 85
Eagles
Try: Bailey
Pen: Carey
Exiles
Tries: Botes 3, Sackmann 2, Fourie 2, Penalty, Walsh, Gairn, Crossley, Stubbs
Cons: Gerber 7
Pens: Gerber 3
Man of the match: Tomas Sackmann (Exiles)
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
