{"id":8341,"date":"2025-12-27T16:02:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T16:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341"},"modified":"2025-12-27T16:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T16:02:30","slug":"alaa-abd-el-fattah-returns-to-uk-after-presidential-pardon-ending-nearly-12-years-of-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341","title":{"rendered":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

London\/Cairo:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Egyptian-British activist, writer and blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah<\/strong> has returned to the United Kingdom after spending nearly 12 years in and out of prison in Egypt, following a presidential pardon granted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/strong> confirmed Abd El-Fattah\u2019s arrival on Friday, describing his return as a \u201cprofound relief<\/strong>\u201d after years of international campaigning for his freedom. Starmer said the case had been a priority for his government since taking office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to pay tribute to Alaa\u2019s family and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment,\u201d Starmer said. \u201cAlaa\u2019s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I\u2019m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abd El-Fattah, one of Egypt\u2019s most prominent political activists, was among six prisoners pardoned by President el-Sisi earlier this year following sustained pressure from international human rights organizations, foreign governments and advocacy campaigns. His release followed a series of hunger strikes that renewed global attention on his case.<\/p>\n

A central figure during Egypt\u2019s 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak<\/strong>, Abd El-Fattah later became a vocal critic of el-Sisi, who came to power after a military takeover in 2013. His activism and writings made him one of the most high-profile critics of the Egyptian government.<\/p>\n

In 2014, Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to 15 years in prison<\/strong> on charges including spreading false news. He was temporarily released in 2019, only to receive another five-year sentence<\/strong> later that same year. Egyptian authorities have consistently denied holding political prisoners, maintaining that detainees are jailed solely for violating the law.<\/p>\n

Although he was pardoned in September, Abd El-Fattah initially remained under a travel ban, a restriction commonly imposed on freed detainees in Egypt. Early on Friday, he posted a brief and cryptic message on X hinting at his departure: \u201cIs it possible, kids, that we will say bye?\u201d<\/em> Hours later, it was confirmed that he had left Egypt and arrived safely in the UK.<\/p>\n

The British government had repeatedly raised concerns about Abd El-Fattah\u2019s health and prison conditions, while also facing criticism from activists who argued that London had not exerted enough pressure on Cairo, a close ally of both the UK and the United States.<\/p>\n

His mother, Laila Soueif<\/strong>, confirmed his safe arrival in a social media post, writing: \u201cPraise be to God, Alaa reached London safely.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Abd El-Fattah\u2019s return marks the end of a long and highly symbolic case that became a focal point for international debates over human rights, political dissent and freedom of expression in Egypt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention.\u00a0   London\/Cairo:   Egyptian-British activist, writer and blogger Alaa Abd […]<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[1849],"class_list":["post-8341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world-news","tag-alaaabdelfattah-keirstarmer-ukpolitics-egypt-humanrights-politicalprisoners-freedomofexpression-presidentialpardon-activism-middleeast-internationalrelations-ruleoflaw"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention.\u00a0   London\/Cairo:   Egyptian-British activist, writer and blogger Alaa Abd […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Eagle News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765985543374.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341\",\"name\":\"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/836b23196d8cf2a3340a0b6adb2d2cf4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/\",\"name\":\"The Eagle News\",\"description\":\"Eagle News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/836b23196d8cf2a3340a0b6adb2d2cf4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3813785621535057fd2f3870ecafe9dc3e7307140c68da3e0427080f45c50e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3813785621535057fd2f3870ecafe9dc3e7307140c68da3e0427080f45c50e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/theeaglenews.in\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News","og_description":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention.\u00a0   London\/Cairo:   Egyptian-British activist, writer and blogger Alaa Abd […]","og_url":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341","og_site_name":"The Eagle News","article_published_time":"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1366,"url":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765985543374.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341","url":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341","name":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention. - The Eagle News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-27T16:02:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/836b23196d8cf2a3340a0b6adb2d2cf4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?p=8341#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alaa Abd El-Fattah Returns to UK After Presidential Pardon, Ending Nearly 12 Years of Detention."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/","name":"The Eagle News","description":"Eagle News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/836b23196d8cf2a3340a0b6adb2d2cf4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3813785621535057fd2f3870ecafe9dc3e7307140c68da3e0427080f45c50e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3813785621535057fd2f3870ecafe9dc3e7307140c68da3e0427080f45c50e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/theeaglenews.in"],"url":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8342,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8341\/revisions\/8342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeaglenews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}