Alaa Abd El Fattah
Detained: September 29, 2019.
Charges: Broadcasting false news.
Sentence: 5 years in prison, excluding 2 years of detainment.
Biography: Alaa Abd El Fattah, who also goes by Alaa Seif Al-Islam, is an Egyptian activist, blogger, and software developer who holds dual British citizenship. Abd El Fattah's pro-democracy activism came to prominence during the Arab Spring when he developed Arabic-language versions of important software and platforms. Abd El Fattah has been arrested and jailed multiple times since 2006. On September 29, 2019—only six months after having been conditionally released from a prior, unjust prison sentence—he was re-arrested and detained during a widespread crackdown on protests. While in detention, Abd El Fattah was beaten, threatened, held in solitary confinement, robbed, and left for nearly two years without a trial. On December 20, 2021, Abd El Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison on spurious charges of "broadcasting false news"—this does not include his prior two years of detention. In May, the state-appointed National Council for Human Rights agreed to transfer Abd El Fattah from Tora prison to Wadi El-Natrun prison, after hundreds filed a petition demanding his release due to his unjust imprisonment and the conditions at Tora.
On April 2, 2022, Abd El Fattah began an open hunger strike in protest of his conditions in prison and to demand recourse for the abuse he has been forced to endure. Concerns continue to mount over his physical state without proper nutrition. Additionally, his sister Sanna Seif was harassed and abducted in 2020 after protesting outside the prison. Her treatment raises questions regarding the safety of Abd El Fattah's family in Egypt.
Advocate: Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA)
Advocacy Partner: PEN America
Updates:
- On the third anniversary of Alaa Abd El Fattah and Mohamed el-Baqer's arrest, more than 20 human rights organizations released a joint statement calling for their release (September 29, 2022, International Federation
for Human Rights). - On November 3, 2022, Egypt Human Rights Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) released a statement calling on President Biden to push Egyptian President el-Sisi to release Abd El Fattah and other activists while attending COP27 in Egypt (November 3, 2022, Office of Rep. Don Beyer).
- On November 6, 2022, the first day of the COP27 summit, Alaa Abd El Fattah escalated his hunger strike and began a “water strike” (November 7, 2022, BBC). He forewarned about his plans to escalate the strike during the week prior to the conference (November 1, 2022, CBS).
- On November 7, 2022, Alaa Abd El Fattah was named as the recipient of the first annual Electronic Frontier Foundation Award for Democratic Reform Advocacy (November 7, 2022, Electronic Frontier Foundation).
- On November 8, 2022, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on the Egyptian government to release Abd El Fattah, stating that “[he] is in great danger. His dry hunger strike puts his life at acute risk” (November 8, 2022, OHCHR).
- After three days with no updates on Abd El Fattah’s condition, and increasing concern about his status, on November 10, 2022, prison officials informed his family that he underwent “a medical intervention with the knowledge of a judicial authority", the specifics of which were unspecified. Later that day, Abd El Fattah’s lawyer was denied entry to the prison facility where he is detained, despite receiving approval to visit him (November 10, 2022, Washington Post).
- On July 3, 2023, a letter signed by over 100 Members of the UK Parliament was submitted to UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly outlining a recommendation for an action plan to secure Alaa Abd El Fattah's release and calling for the UK to update its travel advisory for Egypt to highlight potential risks of imprisonment for UK Citizens, similar to the advisory issued by the US Department of State (July 3, 2023, Council for Arab-British Understanding).
- On July 26, 2023, PEN International and English PEN condemned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the UK Government's inability to secure Alaa Abd El Fattah's release since the Prime Minister's meeting with President el-Sisi eight months prior (July 26, 2023, PEN International).
On August 16, 2024, journalist Peter Greste, a former fellow political prisoner and cell neighbor of Alaa Abd El Fattah, called on the UK government to increase efforts to secure Alaa Abd El Fattah’s release in an Op-Ed published in Middle East Eye (August 16, 2024, Middle East Eye).
In late August 2024, it was reported that Alaa Abd El Fattah’s family had met with a UK Foreign Office minister to discuss Abd El Fattah’s case with the new administration and were assured that it was a priority of the new government (August 20, 2024, Irish News).
On September 11, 2024, the Electronic Frontier Foundation released a statement calling on the UK government to increase efforts to secure Alaa Abd El Fattah’s release (September 11, 2024, Electronic Frontier Foundation).
In the week before the completion of Alaa Abd El Fattah’s sentence on September 29, 2024, his lawyer raised concerns about the Egyptian government’s possible intention to disregard time served in pretrial detention to add an additional two years to Abd El Fattah’s detention, in violation of Egyptian law (September 24, 2024, Middle East Eye). His family also raised concerns about the possibility of Abd El Fattah facing new charges to prevent his release, a known pattern in the Egyptian detention system (September 24, 2024, Guardian).
On September 25, 2024, 59 human rights organizations released a joint statement calling for him to be released on September 29, in compliance with Egyptian law (September 25, 2024, Committee to Protect Journalists). Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists also released additional, separate statements calling for Abd El Fattah’s release and condemning the extension of his sentence in violation of Egyptian law (September 25, 2024, Reporters Without Borders; September 24, 2024, Committee to Protect Journalists).
On September 26, 2024, Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Alaa Abd El Fattah and to ensure he does not remain in prison after the completion of his sentence on September 29. On the same day, Amnesty International UK called on the UK government to ensure Abd El Fattah would be released upon the completion of his sentence (September 26, 2024, Amnesty International; Amnesty International UK).
- Alaa Abd El Fattah's sentence was completed on September 29, 2024, however, he remained imprisoned. Authorities kept Abd El Fattah in prison by deciding not to count time served in pretrial detention towards his sentence, a violation of Egypt's own criminal code. Laila Soueif, the mother of Alaa Abd El Fattah, announced on September 30 that she would begin a hunger strike in protest of her son’s continued imprisonment after the completion of his sentence and to increase pressure on authorities for his release (September 30, 2024, Associated Press). She stated that she would refuse to eat until her son was released (September 30, 2024, Middle East Eye).
Alaa Abd El Fattah’s case was highlighted by the article “This Egyptian prison sentence never ends” (September 30, 2024, Washington Post).
On October 3, 2024, Human Rights Watch released a statement calling for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s immediate release, as he continued to be detained despite the completion of his sentence (October 3, 2024, Human Rights Watch).
In October 2024, it was reported that a “cross-party group of MPs” in the UK had begun working on increasing pressure to secure the release of arbitrarily detained UK citizens, including Alaa Abd El Fattah and Jimmy Lai. It was reported that the group planned to call for the establishment of a special envoy for hostage affairs in the UK government (October 8, 2024, Independent).
- On October 10, 2024, Alaa Abd El Fattah was named the 2024 PEN Writer of Courage and co-winner of the 2024 Pinter Prize by Arundhati Roy (October 10, 2024, English PEN).
The Electronic Frontiers Foundation released a statement marking the 25th day of Alaa Abd El Fattah’s prolonged detention on October 23, 2024, in which they called on the government of the UK to increase efforts to secure his release (October 23, 2024, Electronic Frontiers Foundation).
On November 4, 2024, a group of 15 human rights organizations submitted a letter to UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, calling on the UK government to increase pressure for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s immediate release and to leverage economic ties to help secure his release (November 4, 2024, TIMEP).
Ahmed Naji, friend of Alaa Abd El Fattah and former fellow prisoner in Tora Maximum Security Prison, highlighted Alaa Abd El Fattah’s case in the article “To Understand Egypt, Meet My Friend, a Political Prisoner” (November 11, 2024, New York Times).
On November 12, 2024, 27 press freedom and human rights organizations submitted a letter to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, requesting an update on the appeal for a formal opinion on the case of Alaa Abd El Fattah (November 12, 2024, Committee to Protect Journalists).
In recognition of Alaa Abd El Fattah’s 43rd birthday on November 18, 2024, organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and PEN America released statements calling for his immediate release (November 18, 2024, Electronic Frontier Foundation; PEN America).
On November 23, 2024, Alaa Abd El Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, marked 55 days on hunger strike in protest of his continued imprisonment (November 23, 2024, New York Times).
To mark the 60th day of Laila Soueif’s hunger strike, Alaa Abd El Fattah’s aunt, Ahdaf Soueif, published an op-ed in the Guardian titled “My sister is on hunger strike to free her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah from jail in Egypt. We don’t want her to die,” calling for his immediate release (November 27, 2024, The Guardian).
UK Member of Parliament John McDonnell raised the case of Alaa Abd El Fattah during the House of Commons debate session on December 5, 2024. During the debate, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Hamish Falconer reaffirmed that the case was a priority for the UK Government (December 5, 2024, UK Parliament).
January 7, 2025, marked the 100th day of Alaa Abd El Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif’s hunger strike in protest of her son’s continued imprisonment. In recognition of this, Reporters Without Borders released a statement calling for his immediate release (January 7, 2025, CNN; Reporters Without Borders).
On January 15, 2025, Peter Greste, a journalist formerly imprisoned with Alaa Abd El Fattah, announced he would begin a hunger strike in solidarity with Laila Soueif in protest of Alaa Abd El Fattah’s continued detention (January 15, 2025, The Guardian).
Alaa Abd El Fattah’s case was highlighted in the Egypt chapter of the Human Rights Watch World Report 2025 (January 16, 2025, Human Rights Watch).
On January 20, 2025, 13 free expression and human rights organizations submitted a letter to UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, calling on him to push for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s release during his visit to Egypt on January 23 (January 30, 2025, Human Rights Watch).
During Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review session at the United Nations on January 28, 2025, multiple governments and human rights organizations condemned the state of free speech and prominence of arbitrary detentions in Egypt. Some statements, including those of the UK Government and PEN International, specifically highlighted the case of Alaa Abd El Fattah and called for his immediate release (January 28, 2025, Agence France Presse; GOV.UK; January 27, 2025 PEN America ).
On February 27, 2025, a group of UN experts called for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s immediate unconditional release, referring to his detention as “unlawful and arbitrary,” citing how his continued detention was in violation of the Egyptian Criminal Code (February 27, 2025, OHCHR).
On March 14, 2025, 17 free expression and human rights organizations submitted a letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for him to increase pressure for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s release, highlighting the urgency posed by Abd El Fattah and his mother’s ongoing hunger strikes (March 14, 2025, Committee to Protect Journalists).