Sisi orders authorities to review petition for Alaa Abd El Fattah’s release from prison

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi instructed “relevant authorities” on Tuesday to look into the national rights council’s petition for amnesty to be granted to activist Alaa Abd El Fattah and six other prisoners, according to reports published by state-affiliated media. No corresponding statement was published by the presidency’s official channels.

The National Council for Human Rights (NHCR) had urged the president to intervene for the prisoners’ release.

The rights council urged Sisi to consider pardoning the detainees “from a purely paternal position” employing the constitutional powers “that embody the state’s humanitarian dimension” and reflect the president’s “personal concern for the components of the Egyptian family.”

It pointed to the affected families’ urgent humanitarian and health circumstances that require the prisoners’ release to be present with them.

Abd El Fattah, detained since 2019, began a hunger strike at the start of September, according to his mother, Laila Soueif.

United Nations experts said in late May that authorities are arbitrarily detaining the writer and activist, since his five-year sentence came to an end in September 2024. His family, along with political figures, have repeatedly submitted petitions to the presidency and judicial bodies seeking his release.

His name was removed from the national terrorism register in August and his mother said he received assurances from the National Security Agency that his release was imminent.

The rights council said that the pardon would serve as “an extremely important moral boost for the families concerned.”

 Shortly after his sentence ended without his release, Abd El Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, condemned what she called the “Egyptian authorities’ crime” against her son, describing his detention as unlawful and stating he is effectively “kidnapped.”

Soueif began a hunger strike in October 2024 that took a serious toll on her health. She ended it in July, after nearly 300 days, following medical advice.

In addition to Abd El Fattah, the NCHR’s list included Saeed Magly al-Daw Eleiwa, Karam Abdel Sameea Ismail al-Saadany, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Awad Abdu Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif and Mansour Abdel Gaber Ali Abdel Razeq.

Editor's note: An initial version of this article incorrectly stated that seven other prisoners were mentioned by the National Council for Human Rights in its petition for the release of Alaa Abd El Fattah. The article has been amended to reflect that six other names were included in the petition with Abd El Fattah.