President Sisi orders authorities to review clemency request for activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah

A glimmer of hope for Alaa Abd el-Fattah after Egypt’s President Sisi ordered authorities to study a possible pardon for the well-known blogger and activist.  

The 43-year-old joint Egyptian-British national is a symbol of resistance to authoritarian rule and has spent much of the last decade in prison.  

His mother Laila Soueif has been a tireless campaigner for her son’s release, going on hunger strike and appealing to the British government for support.  

Now, according to Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, Sisi has ordered relevant authorities to review a petition requesting clemency for several convicts, including Abd el-Fattah.  

Abd el-Fattah rose to prominence during the Arab Spring uprising that toppled Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011. He then challenged the tough crackdown on dissent following a military takeover led by Sisi in 2013. 

He was jailed in 2014 – the same year Sisi assumed the presidency -  for protesting without permission.  

He has been serving a five-year sentence imposed in December 2021 for sharing a social media post about a prisoner's death. 

Abd el-Fattah should have been released last year but Egyptian authorities refused to count more than two years he spent in pre-trial detention and ordered him to be held until January 2027.

The pardon decision is expected within the next few days.