A Court criminal court has reversed an earlier order to release political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqar, both of whom are in detention pending investigation into a number of charges, according to rights lawyer Mohamed Hafez and Abdel-Fattah's family.

Alaa, who was arrested in September along with El-Baqar, is facing charges of inciting anti-government protests in Cairo and other cities.

On Wednesday, the court ordered their release upon a request from Abdel-Fattah's family challenging a 45-day detention order. The prosecution appealed the court's decision and the decision was overturned.

Abdel-Fattah, a blogger and software engineer, was released in March 2019 after serving a five-year sentence for protesting without a permit in violation of a 2013 law. He was under a five-year probation at the time of his latest arrest.