On September 22, 2025, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a presidential pardon for Alaa Abdel Fattah, the Egyptian-British activist whose name has become synonymous with the struggle for human rights and political freedom in Egypt. The announcement, confirmed by Egyptian state media and widely reported by outlets including The Guardian, AP, and Amnesty International, marks a dramatic turn in a saga that has gripped international observers, human rights advocates, and the activist’s own family for more than a decade.
Abdel Fattah’s case has been emblematic of Egypt’s turbulent journey since the 2011 Arab Spring. Once celebrated as a leading voice in the protests that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah became a target for successive governments—spending almost all of the past twelve years behind bars. According to AP, his ordeal began in earnest in 2014, when he was imprisoned for participating in an unauthorized protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer. After a brief release in early 2019, he was re-arrested that September during a security crackdown that followed rare anti-government demonstrations.
His most recent conviction came in December 2021, when an Emergency State Security Court sentenced him to five years for "spreading false news"—a charge tied to a social media post about the death of a fellow prisoner. International organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly denounced the charges as spurious and politically motivated. Amnesty’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, declared, "Alaa Abdel Fattah is a prisoner of conscience who was targeted for his peaceful activism. His pardon will not erase the ordeal he has endured in detention over the past six years."
Despite his five-year sentence set to end on September 29, 2024, Egyptian authorities refused to count the more than two years he spent in pretrial detention, extending his incarceration until January 2027. This move, as reported by The Guardian, violated both international legal norms and Egypt’s own domestic laws. His lawyer, Khaled Ali, argued that the time spent in pretrial detention should have been credited toward his sentence, but prosecutors resisted. The extended detention led to renewed outcry from his family and supporters.
Throughout his imprisonment, Abdel Fattah endured harsh and, at times, inhumane conditions. According to reports from Reuters and Amnesty International, he was kept in a cell without sunlight, deprived of books, news, and exercise, and suffered abuse from prison guards. His family frequently raised alarms about his health, especially during his numerous hunger strikes protesting his detention. His most dramatic hunger strike began in April 2022 and lasted seven months, escalating during the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, before ending only after he collapsed and nearly died.
The campaign for Abdel Fattah’s release was relentless and deeply personal. His mother, Laila Soueif—a mathematics professor and seasoned campaigner—became a central figure in the fight, enduring her own hunger strikes and being hospitalized twice in London. She was joined by Abdel Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa, who organized vigils outside the UK Foreign Office and Downing Street, vowing never to give up. Mona, upon hearing of the impending release, wrote on social media: "My heart will explode." Sanaa, too, expressed cautious optimism, stating, "This is really promising, we hope these authorities follow through with urgency and that Alaa will be reunited with us soon."
International pressure played a decisive role in the final outcome. The UK government, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was particularly active—Starmer personally phoned President Sisi three times to advocate for Abdel Fattah’s release, and other senior British officials joined the chorus. The British-Egyptian relationship, which had recently warmed over discussions on regional issues such as the Palestine question, may have provided a diplomatic opening. As The Guardian noted, the UK’s lobbying was complemented by efforts from Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), which submitted a petition earlier this month recommending Abdel Fattah and six others for release on health and humanitarian grounds.
The NCHR welcomed the presidential pardon, describing it as "a step that underscores a growing commitment to reinforcing the principles of swift justice and upholding fundamental rights and freedoms." Their statement continued: "This decision represents a tangible contribution to the implementation of Egypt’s National Human Rights Strategy, strengthens public trust between state institutions and society, and sends a clear signal that balancing the requirements of criminal justice with the principles of human compassion is a sustainable pillar of public policy."
Yet, even as Abdel Fattah’s family and supporters celebrated, human rights organizations reminded the world that his release is just one step in a much larger struggle. Amr Magdi of Human Rights Watch pointed out, "While celebrating Abd el-Fattah's pardon, thousands others remain behind bars because of their public views. Hopefully his release will act as a watershed moment, providing the government with the opportunity to end the wrongful detention of thousands of peaceful critics." Amnesty International echoed this sentiment, urging the Egyptian authorities to release all those detained solely for exercising their human rights and to allow them to reunite with their loved ones.
For Abdel Fattah himself, the journey has been one of unimaginable hardship and endurance. In a statement smuggled from his cell in November 2019, later published in his book You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, he wrote, "My conditions are but a drop in a dark sea of injustice." The words resonated with many, both inside Egypt and abroad, who saw in his case a reflection of the broader repression faced by activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens under Sisi’s rule.
The immediate future remains uncertain for Abdel Fattah. His lawyer told AP that he is expected to be released from Wadi Natron Prison within days of the official publication of the pardon. There is speculation that he may seek to travel to the UK, where he holds citizenship through his mother, but his legal team has also indicated that he wishes to retain his Egyptian citizenship and possibly remain in the country.
As family members and supporters gathered outside the prison in Cairo, the atmosphere was one of cautious hope. A spokesperson for the Free Alaa campaign told The Guardian, "We learned about it through the news like anyone else. Family members are driving to the prison now to find out more. It’s hard to believe it might be happening after all these years." Lina Attalah, editor in chief of Mada Masr and a close friend, summed up the mood: "It has been so long ... and we have been in such defeat mode that such victory always felt far. Nonetheless something in my heart was sure that his struggle, his mother’s struggle and his family’s struggle for his freedom won’t go in vain."
With Abdel Fattah’s release now imminent, his story stands as both a testament to the power of sustained advocacy and a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges facing human rights defenders in Egypt. The world will be watching to see whether this moment signals genuine change or remains an exception in a landscape still fraught with repression and uncertainty.