British-Egyptian activist jailed for 10 years reunited with mum after he was pardoned

British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been released from prison after more than a decade, following a presidential pardon.

His detention, which began with his 2014 arrest for taking part in an unauthorised protest, became a symbol of Egypt’s shrinking democratic freedoms after the Arab Spring.

He spent much of the last 10 years in Wadi Natrun Prison, with only a brief release in 2019 before being detained again in a wider security crackdown.

On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi pardoned him along with five others, after the National Council for Human Rights urged clemency.

The release led to emotional scenes in Cairo as Alaa was reunited with his family. His mother, Laila Soueif, was pictured hugging her son in tears, while his sister Mona wrote: ‘An excep