Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has expressed his delight at the safe return to the United Kingdom of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian democracy activist who spent six years imprisoned in Egypt.
A Long-Awaited Reunion After Years of Captivity
Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who holds dual British-Egyptian nationality, was finally reunited with his family in the UK following a presidential pardon from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September. His release concludes a protracted and harrowing campaign for freedom that involved intense diplomatic efforts and severe personal sacrifice.
The activist was initially detained in September 2019. In December 2021, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news, accusations stemming from his pro-democracy and human rights work. United Nations investigators later branded his continued imprisonment a breach of international law.
A Desperate Campaign for Freedom
The fight to secure Mr Abd El-Fattah's release was led tirelessly by his family. It became a focal point during the COP27 climate summit hosted by Egypt in 2022, when his relatives urged then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to intervene. Despite this high-profile pressure, he remained detained.
In a drastic measure, his mother, Laila Soueif, began a partial hunger strike in late 2024 to draw global attention to her son's plight. The strike escalated to a full hunger strike in the summer of 2025, leading to her hospitalisation with warnings she was on the brink of death. Her son had also undertaken his own excruciating hunger strike, which lasted for nearly 300 days during his incarceration.
In a letter from prison in December 2024, seen by The Guardian, Mr Abd El-Fattah expressed deep frustration, even contemplating renouncing his British citizenship due to a perceived lack of support from the UK government at the time.
Top Priority for the New Government
Since taking office, Sir Keir Starmer's government made the case a top priority. On Friday, the Prime Minister took to social media platform X to announce the successful outcome. "I'm delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief," Sir Keir wrote.
He paid tribute to the activist's family and campaigners, and expressed gratitude to President Sisi for granting the pardon. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper echoed these sentiments, stressing on X that securing Mr Abd El-Fattah's release had been a fundamental objective for the government from the outset.
Mr Abd El-Fattah had become one of Egypt's most prominent political prisoners, symbolising rare opposition to a widespread crackdown under President Sisi. Egyptian authorities had kept him imprisoned beyond his official release date, even when his pre-trial detention was accounted for. His return to Britain marks the end of a chapter defined by activism, injustice, and an unwavering family's fight for freedom.
