In response to an appeal from the National Human Rights Council (NHRC), President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi issued a presidential pardon on Monday for six prisoners held in Egypt, including the 43-year-old political activist and computer programmer Alaa Seif Al-Islam Abdel-Fattah who also holds British citizenship, reports Gamal Essam El-Din.
The pardon also included Said Megali Al-Daw Eliwa, Abdel-Samie Ismail Al-Saadani, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel-Khaleq Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Latif, and Mansour Abdel-Gaber Ali Abdel-Razeq.
President Al-Sisi has issued a pardon for the remainder of the prison sentences of a number of convicted persons, including Alaa Abdel-Fattah, after taking the necessary constitutional and legal procedures in this regard.
According to NHRC Official Spokesman Ezzat Ibrahim, President Al-Sisi’s decision to pardon Abdel-Fattah and five other prisoners, in addition to returning the Criminal Procedures Law to parliament for reconsideration this week, clearly reflects a growing commitment to conducting a comprehensive review of rights and freedoms in Egypt.
“We are not talking about separate steps or abrupt decisions, but rather about an integrated system aimed at revising pertinent legislation on the one hand and executive measures including pardons on the other,” Ibrahim said, adding that “this mix of legislative and executive moves confirms that there is the political will to strike a balance between the requirements of criminal justice and protecting constitutional rights.”
Ibrahim said that the NHRC is currently studying the cases of other activists who are serving prison sentences related to political and freedom of speech issues. “A list of other prisoners is under review by the NHRC’s Complaints Office and will be sent to the president to ask him to consider pardons,” he said.
Ibrahim said that President Al-Sisi’s decision to issue a pardon on Monday reflects the humanitarian dimension of the law and flexibility in implementing its provisions. “The president’s decision to return the Criminal Procedures Law to parliament reflects a desire to make sure that legislative texts are in harmony with the constitution and international agreements,” he said.
From a human-rights perspective, the moves show new developments in dealing with the issue of rights and freedoms. “Priority is being given to expanding the scope of criminal-justice procedures, finding alternatives to pre-trial detention, and offering more guarantees for a fair trial,” Ibrahim said, adding that “at the same time this is not separate from the humanitarian aspect aimed at enabling pardoned activists to be re-integrated into society as responsible citizens.”
Tarek Radwan, head of parliament’s Human Rights Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that “the decision to issue a pardon is not an isolated event, but rather is in line with other earlier decisions that led to introducing the National Strategy for Human Rights (2021-2026), the activation of the Presidential Pardon Committee, and the release of a number of detainees in various cases.”
Negad Al-Borai, a prominent human-rights activist, said the two decisions by President Al-Sisi had taken him by surprise this week.
“These two decisions were taken over the course of two days, the first being the referral of the Criminal Procedures Law to the House of Representatives to be amended to expand the scope of human rights, and the second being the pardon of a number of convicts, including the Arab Spring political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah,” Al-Borai said.
He expressed the hope that “more pardon decisions will be issued for those arrested for demonstrating for Palestine and for the release of Mohamed Adel, a political activist whose case is similar to that of Alaa Abdel-Fattah.”
Tarek Al-Awady, a lawyer and a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, said that Al-Sisi’s decision to pardon Alaa Abdel-Fattah in particular reflects a humanitarian dimension and sends a positive message confirming the state’s willingness to turn the page on years of internal conflict and uphold the value of tolerance.
“President Al-Sisi’s pardon decision deserves praise, not only for the comfort it has brought to the families of those released, but also because it reinforces the confidence that the door to review and correction is always open,” Al-Awady said.
“We hope that this pardon will be a first step and will be followed by others that restore hope to more young activists and pave the way for real social reconciliation based on respect for the law and human rights and the consolidation of stability.”
The NCHR said in a statement on 8 September that it had appealed to President Al-Sisi to use his constitutional powers to issue a presidential pardon for a number of political activists, including Abdel-Fattah, who had been convicted of various charges.
It added that its appeal was in response to pleas from the families of detainees and was designed to give the prisoners “a new chance in their lives, to return to their families, and to live in their community under normal conditions.”
Abdel-Fattah was released in 2019 after serving a five-year sentence for leading an unlicensed demonstration, attacking police officers, and damaging public property in front of the Shura Council building in Downtown Cairo in 2014.
The State Security Emergency Misdemeanor Court later sentenced Abdel-Fattah to five more years in prison on charges of spreading false news with the intention of “disturbing public peace and destabilising the country.”
Last July, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered that his name be removed from the list of terrorist entities “based on investigations indicating that Abdel-Fattah is no longer engaged in any activity on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Abdel-Fattah gained prominence when he obtained British citizenship in 2021 through his mother who was born in Britain.
Relatives of Abdel-Fattah, who was released from the Wadi Al-Natroun Prison west of Alexandria on Monday, posted photos of the activist smiling on social media early on Tuesday surrounded by his family.
“I can’t describe what I feel,” Abdel-Fattah’s 69-year-old mother Laila Soueif told Reuters from her house in Giza as she stood next to her son surrounded by family and friends.
Al-Sisi’s decision to pardon Abdel-Fattah also reverberated in international media and human-rights circles. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the pardon, casting Abdel-Fattah as a prominent political activist.
“He has spent most of the past decade in prison, most recently being arrested in 2019 and then sentenced to five years in prison for spreading fake news,” said the HRW’s statement.
Amnesty International’s Erika Guevara Rosas said the release was welcome but overdue. “His pardon is a testament to the tireless efforts of his family and human-rights institutions that have been relentlessly demanding his release,” she said.
Many, however, believe that the pardon of Abdel-Fattah came only after months of consultations between the Egyptian and British authorities. The British media have claimed that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer telephoned President Al-Sisi three times to lobby for Abdel-Fattah’s release.
Reuters said that Soueif met Starmer earlier this year to lobby for her son’s release.
Growing warmth in British-Egyptian relations, most recently due to the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine, may have played a role in President Al-Sisi’s decision to pardon Abdel-Fattah.
Reuters cited British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper as saying that “I strongly welcome the news that Alaa Abdel-Fattah has received a presidential pardon, and I’m grateful to President Al-Sisi for this decision.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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