Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has issued a presidential pardon for Alaa Abdel Fattah, an imprisoned political activist whose case has become emblematic of Egypt’s crackdown on dissent. The decision also included 5 other prisoners serving sentences in politically sensitive cases.
The release was met with cautious optimism by human rights advocates. Khaled Ali, Alaa’s lawyer and a prominent rights' defender, welcomed the decision as a “positive step” but warned that systemic change was still urgently needed.
“It’s a positive step, just like yesterday’s decision to return the criminal procedures bill to Parliament,” Ali told Al Manassa. “But it must not stop here. We need structural reforms to end abusive pretrial detention and secure justice for all prisoners of conscience.”
The 5 other prisoners granted clemency are Said Megalli El-Daw Aliwa, Karam Abdel-Samea Ismail El-Saadani, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel-Khaleq Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Latif and Mansour Abdel-Gaber Ali Abdel-Razek.
Council calls for deeper reforms
The National Council for Human Rights, which submitted a formal clemency appeal earlier this month, said the move reflected a growing commitment to fairness and institutional accountability.
In a statement, the council said the decision was both a humanitarian act and a signal of reform in Egypt’s penal policy. “These decisions not only recognize the humanity of the imprisoned,” it said, “but also strengthen the principle of proportionality in sentencing, and affirm the right to reintegration.”
The council said it would continue to advocate for deeper reforms, including changes to long-term pretrial detention practices. It also praised the presidency’s responsiveness, noting that El-Sisi had instructed relevant authorities to study the appeal on Sept. 9.
Years of detention and protest
Alaa, who holds dual British-Egyptian citizenship, ended a hunger strike he had begun on Sept. 1 in protest at the lack of progress on his case. His name had been removed from Egypt’s terrorism list earlier this year.
Although his release had been anticipated in late 2024, legal delays emerged after authorities refused to count his pretrial detention toward his five-year sentence. That sentence was handed down by an emergency state security court and ratified by a military governor on Jan. 3, 2022.
Abdel Fattah was arrested on Sept. 28, 2019, and charged with “spreading false news,” “misusing social media,” and “joining a terrorist group.” He spent more than two years in pretrial detention before being convicted in December 2021.
