Egypt: activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah released from prison, returns home

Cairo (Egypt), Sept. 23 (LaPresse) – Egyptian-British pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah was granted a presidential pardon yesterday and was released overnight after nearly 12 years in prison. “An exceptionally beautiful day. Alaa is free,” wrote his sister Mona Seif on social media platform X, along with a photo of her smiling brother with their mother Laila Soueif and sister Sanaa Seif. Sanaa Seif posted on Facebook that her brother arrived home while they were waiting for him outside Wadi Natron prison, near Cairo. Abd el-Fattah and five other prisoners were pardoned after the National Council for Human Rights intervened on behalf of their families and urged President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to consider their situation on humanitarian grounds.