Egyptian rights activist Abdel Fattah freed after 5 years in jail

Alaa Abdel Fattah, a leading pro-democracy activist in Egypt, has been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests, according to his family and lawyer.

The influential blogger and software engineer was a leading voice amongst the young Egyptians who initially led the 2011 uprising that ended the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

“Alaa got out,” his sister, Mona Seif, wrote on Facebook and Twitter on Friday. His other sister, Sanaa Seif, posted a video on Facebook of Abdel Fattah playing with a dog. 

His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release by posting on Facebook: “Thanks God, Alaa Abdel-Fattah at home.”

اللقاء الأول
علاء وتوكة
💓 pic.twitter.com/mjkugrqrR3

— Mona Seif (@Monasosh) March 29, 2019

Translation: First meeting, Alaa and Toka

Facebook pages set up in support of Abdel Fattah posted videos of him grinning, hugging and shaking hands with friends as he walked out of a police station in Cairo. In the background, women were ululating.

His release from the notorious Tora prison will not bring him complete freedom. As part of his parole, Abdel Fattah must sleep every night at a local police station for the next five years and will be under police surveillance.

Government crackdown

Abdel Fattah was arrested in November 2013 and eventually sentenced to five years in prison in a trial that lasted more than a year.

He was charged with organising an illegal protest against military trials and assaulting a police officer. The court discounted evidence, including mobile phone records, which showed that Abdel Fattah was not at the protest.

The influential blogger hails from a family of political activists, lawyers, and writers – his late father was one of Egypt’s most tireless rights lawyers; his sisters and mother are also political activists; and his aunt is award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.

An outspoken dissident, Abdel Fattah had also been convicted for taking part in a peaceful demonstration following the military’s removal in July 2013 of Egypt’s first elected President Mohamed Morsi.

After Morsi was overthrown, Egypt’s military-backed transitional authorities waged a heavy crackdown on his supporters who had rallied against Morsi’s removal. One sit-in by protesters in Cairo in August 2013 was broken up by security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.

Within weeks, the government also went after secular and liberal activists who opposed a newly introduced law banning street protests without prior permission from authorities. The new law required participants to formally ask the interior ministry for permission to hold a rally three days in advance. It also set prison terms and high fines for violators.

The demonstration that led to Abdel Fattah’s arrest and sentencing was in protest against trials of civilians before military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings.

Security forces raided his house after the protest, beat up his wife and confiscated his laptops but he was not there. He later turned himself in.

“I don’t deny the charge,” he wrote in a statement released at the time. “It’s an honour to hold responsibility for people’s rallies in defiance of legalising the return of” the rule of Mubarak.

During his imprisonment in 2014, Abdel Fattah’s father, Ahmed Seif, the well-known and celebrated civil rights activist, passed away.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies