Image: Free Alaa campaign
We are thrilled to learn of the long-awaited release of activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah. We can finally celebrate that Alaa is free.
Several media outlets announced on 22 September that the Egyptian government has granted a pardon to activist Alaa, which later resulted in his release after years of unjust imprisonment that has violated several fundamental rights.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been imprisoned almost continuously since 2014. His most recent period of detention began on 28 September 2019, while he was briefly on probationary release from a previous conviction. In December 2021, after a trial that UN experts judged to be unfair, a court handed him a five-year prison sentence for "spreading false news", simply for sharing a Facebook post about torture. In 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for his immediate release. Over the years, APC has joined numerous civil society organisations in calling for justice and freedom for Alaa.
As described in one of the many joint statements released over the past decade, our courageous friend and colleague, Egyptian writer, activist and technologist Alaa, is among the few of his generation to challenge the authoritarian regimes in his country. He was a co-founder of APC member organisation Motoon in Egypt and one of the leading voices and campaigners during the 25 January 2011 revolution. He has been published in numerous outlets and his book, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, which compiles some of his deeply influential writings, has received widespread acclaim. In 2024, Alaa was named Writer of Courage when Arundhati Roy shared her PEN Pinter Prize with him.
As we celebrate his freedom, we remain deeply engaged in Alaa’s and his family's fight for justice, while we also remember the many other activists facing similar situations simply for exercising their right to free speech.