Rofeida Hamdy, wife of jailed activist Mohamed Adel, submitted a formal petition to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday, urging him to issue a presidential pardon for her husband, the former spokesperson of the 6 April Youth Movement who is currently on day 33 of a hunger strike.
Hamdy posted on Facebook that she had delivered the petition at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace with opposition politician and El-Dostour Party leader Gameela Ismail. The move comes more than four months after Adel completed his prison sentence.
“I endured the past seven years of my husband’s imprisonment and waited for his scheduled release on Jan. 26, 2025, only to be shocked that, according to the prosecution’s paperwork, his actual release date is now Sept. 2, 2027,” Hamdy wrote in the petition. “They are refusing to count his pretrial detention toward his sentence, which violates Egyptian law.”
Hamdy emphasized that Adel has spent nearly 12 years in prison on politically motivated charges such as protesting without a permit and spreading false news. “He was never charged with terrorism, violence, or incitement. He has always adhered to peaceful expression of opinion,” she wrote.
The petition continues, “Mohamed Adel is 37 years old, and after 12 years in prison, he wishes to resume his life and care for his elderly parents, as well as for me, his wife. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I am 34 years old, and my husband's imprisonment prevents me from having children and starting a family. Every day he remains in prison delays, and even diminishes, my chances of conceiving. I appeal to you to consider this matter with the eyes of a compassionate father.”
“We are not criminals. We are Egyptian citizens who love this country and want to serve it,” Hamdy wrote. “Twelve years should be punishment enough for political views the state did not agree with.”
Adel was arrested in 2018 inside Aga police station, where he had to report for 12 hours a day on probation for an earlier conviction for demonstrating without a permit. Abdeen Misdemeanor Appeals Court had sentenced him to three years in prison, followed by three years of police probation.
Just two days later, prosecutors opened a new case against him, No. 5606/2018 (Aga Administrative), accusing him of “joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.” The charges stemmed from his criticism of Egypt’s International Monetary Fund agreements, foreign borrowing, and capital punishment.
Three months later, Adel was hit with identical charges in a second case, No. 4118/2018 (Sherbin Administrative) in Daqahliyya Governorate. A third case, No. 467/2020 (Supreme State Security), followed in December 2020, charging him with joining a terrorist group, financing terrorism, providing information to a terrorist group, and meeting its leaders while in prison.
In September 2023, Adel’s wife launched a public petition addressed to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, pleading for her husband’s pardon.
In December 2024, the authorities at Gamasa Prison barred Adel from taking his end-of-term exams, despite his family complying with official procedures. Adel began his hunger strike soon after, prompting officials to block visits from his wife and transfer him to the 10th of Ramadan Prison 4.
Rights groups call for release
In May, 80 local and international human rights organizations called for Adel’s immediate release, saying he was being denied adequate food and medical care. “Gamasa Prison authorities have failed to provide him with enough food, seriously compromising his health,” the statement said.
Adel’s ordeal mirrors that of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose family demanded his release following the completion of his sentence on Sept. 29 last year, arguing that time served in pretrial detention—prior to his sentencing in Case No. 1228/2021 (Emergency State Security Misdemeanors, Fifth Settlement)—should be counted toward his five-year prison term.
Prominent human rights lawyer Khaled Ali has previously told Al Manassa that failure to subtract pretrial detention violates Article 482 of Egypt’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires authorities to count all time served. “This is also a breach of Article 484, which obliges authorities to start deduction from the lightest sentence first when multiple sentences are involved,” he said.
