British pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah was released from prison early on Tuesday after being granted a presidential pardon, according to his campaign.
He and five other prisoners were pardoned on Monday following actions by the National Council for Human Rights, which acted on behalf of their families and urged President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to consider the prisoners’ situations on health and humanitarian grounds.
Mr. Abd El-Fattah was released from Wadi Natron Prison after spending almost all of the past 12 years incarcerated and is now safe at his home in Cairo, his campaign stated.
He was originally arrested in 2014 for participating in an unauthorized protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer. Though briefly released in 2019, he was detained again later that year during a security crackdown that followed rare anti-government protests in Egypt.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the most prominent Egyptian activists during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. His prolonged detention became emblematic of the deterioration of Egypt’s democracy.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-released-from-prison-after-receiving-pardon-1809815.html
