CAIRO: Prominent British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was released from prison in Cairo, his family said on Tuesday, prompting an emotional reunion with his loved ones after a pardon from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Abdel Fattah, 43, was a leading figure in Egypt’s 2011 uprising and an outspoken critic of the country’s authorities who had been jailed for the better part of the past decade.
His lawyer and a high-ranking Egyptian official confirmed on Monday that El-Sisi had granted him a presidential pardon and that he would soon walk free from Wadi Al-Natrun Prison, a major penitentiary on the outskirts of the capital Cairo.
Social media posts by his family members early on Tuesday showed Abdel Fattah enjoying an emotional reunion with his loved ones following his release.
“Home,” read a post from an official X account that had advocated for his release, accompanied by a photograph of a smiling Abdel Fattah in a baggy yellow T-shirt embracing his mother, Laila Soueif.
