File Photo: Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah gives an interview at his home in Cairo. AFP
The other five pardoned are Saeed Magally Al-Dou Aliwa, Karam Abdel Samee Ismail Al-Saadany, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Alaa Ahmed Seif El-Islam Abdel-Fattah Hamad, Mohamed Abdel Khalek Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif, and Mansour Abdel Gaber Ali Abdel Razek.
According to a presidential statement, the decision followed constitutional and legal procedures and a direct appeal from the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), which petitioned on 8 September for clemency in a group of cases.
In its letter to the president, the NCHR stated that granting clemency would reflect “the humanitarian dimension of the state” and demonstrate the president’s personal concern for the unity of Egyptian families, particularly the most vulnerable groups — children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
The Egyptian constitution empowers the president to grant individual pardons, a power often used on national and religious occasions to reduce or commute sentences without overturning court verdicts.
The appeal listed seven names for consideration: Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Saeed Magly Elewa, Karam Abdel Samea Ismail Al-Saadani, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Awad Abdo Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif, and Mansour Abdel Jaber Ali Abdel Razek.
The council said its petition came after repeated requests from families and careful review of their cases, emphasizing humanitarian concerns.
“Such a decision would be a powerful moral incentive for the families of those mentioned and would greatly contribute to restoring their stability and psychological and social balance,” the letter stated.
The NCHR added that pardons would help ease the suffering of relatives and noted ongoing government efforts to expand presidential clemency and review pretrial detentions, which have already led to the release of hundreds of detainees in recent years.
Abdel-Fattah, a dual British-Egyptian citizen and one of the most prominent figures of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, has faced multiple prosecutions over the past decade.
He was arrested in September 2019 and spent two years in pretrial detention before being sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison for “spreading false news.”
In July 2025, a Cairo court removed Abdel-Fattah and six others from Egypt’s terrorism list, where he had been placed in 2020 by a criminal court ruling.
Short link: