Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Independent TV

Showing now | News

Video Player Placeholder
Moment Alaa Abd El-Fattah is reunited with family after release from prison

00:48

Moment Alaa Abd el-Fattah is reunited with family after release from prison

This is the moment British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah was reunited with his family after being released from prison in Egypt on Tuesday 23 September.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned the British-Egyptian activist after he spent six years in prison.

The 43-year-old writer and father had become one of Egypt’s most prominent political prisoners, having spent most of his adult life in jail on what human rights groups said were trumped-up charges.

Mr Abd el-Fattah was initially sentenced in 2014 for “protesting without permission” and later re-arrested in 2019 on accusations of spreading fake news.

Mr Abd el-Fattah’s mother Laila Soueif has campaigned tirelessly for his release, including through a hunger strike that lasted for more than 280 days.

Up next

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in