English PEN warmly welcomes the news of British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s release from prison.
This is a hugely important and positive development, and an enormous relief for his family. Alaa, an Honorary Member of English PEN, has long been a central case of concern. He was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize for a Writer of Courage in 2024, chosen by fellow winner Arundhati Roy.
Despite completing this unjust sentence on 29 September 2024, the Egyptian authorities refused to release him, failing to account for the time he spent in pre-trial detention, in defiance of international legal norms and Egypt’s criminal law.
When Alaa Abd el-Fattah was not released in September 2024, English PEN continued to support his family in their tireless efforts to advocate for his freedom through targeted, sustained actions including vigils, letters to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, media pieces, parliamentary engagement, working with UN agencies, and more.
His release is long overdue and hugely welcome. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported Alaa and his family throughout this ordeal.
Press release from the Freedom for Alaa campaign:
Alaa Abd el-Fattah freed from prison in Egypt
British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah was last night (Monday 22nd September) released from Wadi El-Natrun prison in Egypt and reunited with his mother Laila Soueif, and sister Sanaa Seif, in Cairo.
He was released from prison and returned to the home of his mother Laila Soueif, who ended her 287 day hunger strike for her son’s freedom on Monday 14th July.
Alaa’s sister, Mona Seif, posted on X: “An exceptionally kind day. Alaa is free.”
Alaa has been pardoned by President Sisi but it is unclear whether he is able to travel to the UK to be reunited with his son Khaled in Brighton.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released from prison almost 6 years since his arrest and detention on 29th September 2019, and almost a year since his 5 year prison sentence was due to end. He was charged with ‘spreading fake news’ after sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt. But in practice Alaa has spent almost the whole of the last decade in prison, previously serving a prison sentence in Egypt between February 2015 and March 2019 for protesting against the Egyptian government.
When Egyptian authorities failed to release Alaa at the end of his latest 5 year sentence, on the 29th September 2024, his mother Laila Soueif started a hunger strike to protest his continued imprisonment. Over the course of her 287 day hunger strike she was hospitalised at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and came close to death on two occasions, in late February and in June 2025.
Laila Soueif moved to partial hunger strike, consuming a daily 300 calorie liquid supplement, on Wednesday 25th June after the UK’s then Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that he expected ‘[Alaa] to be released’’. She subsequently ended her hunger strike on Monday 14th July after 287 days without food. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously given his personal commitment to securing Alaa’s freedom, both in a meeting with Laila and family and in Parliament.
Over the course of the last year the campaign to free Alaa has had huge cross-Parliamentary support, including from a number of senior UK Parliamentarians. Former British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson has called for Alaa’s release, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe have spoken out in support of Alaa’s family. There has been support for the campaign from numerous celebrities and a ruling from the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) declaring Alaa’s imprisonment unlawful and calling for his release.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media enquiries or requests for interviews with Alaa’s family please email [email protected] or contact Huw Jordan at +447729888709.
More information at www.freealaa.net