Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned high-profile Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, along with five other prisoners, after a lengthy imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes that prompted international pleas for his release, his lawyer said on Monday.

Abd el-Fattah, 43, has become Egypt’s most prominent political prisoner after spending much of his adult life in and out of detention due to his activism, and a rare symbol of opposition to a far-reaching crackdown under Sisi.

Despite campaigns calling for his release, notably during the COP27 climate summit that Egypt hosted in 2022, hopes for his release were only raised when Sisi ordered authorities in September to study his possible pardon. Abd el-Fattah’s name had been removed from Egypt’s “terrorism” list months earlier.

RELEASE EXPECTED WHEN PARDON PUBLISHED

Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, a state-funded body, welcomed the decision, saying it signalled a growing emphasis on swift justice.

His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release, which another member of the defence team said is expected to take place after the pardon is published in the official gazette, within hours or days.

Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, and sister, Sanaa Seif, waited outside Wadi al-Natroun prison, some 100 km northwest of Cairo, where they told Reuters they were hopeful he would be released on Monday.

Abd el-Fattah, who obtained British citizenship through his mother in 2021, comes from a family of well-known activists and intellectuals who have launched several campaigns for his release. His mother met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this year to lobby for her son.

The former blogger had been detained both before the Arab Spring uprising that toppled Egypt’s autocrat leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and during the upheaval that followed. But it was his criticism of crackdowns on dissidents after then-army chief Sisi took power that landed him his lengthiest prison stints by far.

In 2014, Abd el-Fattah was sentenced for protesting without permission to 15 years in prison, later reduced to five years.

ACCUSED OF SPREADING FAKE NEWS

He was released in 2019, but remained on parole and was arrested again later that year, accused of spreading fake news after sharing a social media post about a prisoner’s death. He was later sentenced to another five-year term.

His mother Soueif intensified her campaign in September last year, when she was expecting his release due to time spent in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors argued he should remain in custody until January 2027.

Soueif staged a lengthy hunger strike in Britain, ending it only after pleas from her family as her health significantly deteriorated. Starmer promised he would do everything he could to secure his release.

Abd el-Fattah has also staged multiple hunger strikes in detention to protest against his imprisonment and in solidarity with his mother, most recently in early September.