Sir Keir Starmer said he is ‘delighted’ by the safe return of a British democracy activist who was held in an Egyptian prison for six years.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was pardoned in September after a desperate campaign by his family and British diplomatic pressure, and the Prime Minister today revealed that he has reunited with his family in the UK.
Mr Abd El-Fattah, who has dual British-Egyptian nationality, was detained in the north African country in September 2019, and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.
His imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators, and he was only set free after a presidential pardon from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
In her efforts to secure her son’s freedom, Mr Abd El-Fattah resorted to an excruciating hunger strike that lasted almost 300 days.
On Friday, Sir Keir wrote on X: ‘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.
‘I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment.
‘Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I’m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.’
Alaa Abd El-Fattah with his mother Laila after arriving back in the UK
Al-Fattah, with his sister Sanaa Seif on the right, was released in September but as only just returned to the UK
Alaa Abd El-Fattah spent years in and out of prison thanks to his pro-democracy activism
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper similarly stressed that Mr Abd El-Fattah’s release had been a ‘top priority’ for the Government, and paid tribute to the activist’s family.
Ms Cooper wrote on X: ‘I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah has arrived in the UK and is with his family.
‘Alaa’s case has been a top priority for our Government and I welcome President Sisi’s granting of this pardon.
‘I pay tribute to Alaa’s family for their tireless determination to be reunited.’
Mr Abd El-Fattah was accused of spreading false news in the course of his democracy and human rights activism, which often involved unauthoritsed protests that were critical of the government.
He grew to become one of Egypt’s most prominent political prisoners after spending much of his adult life in and out of detention due to his activism, and offered a rare symbol of opposition to a far-reaching crackdown under Sisi.
Egpytian authorities kept him locked up beyond the date when he should have been released, when his pretrail detention was taken into account.
The COP27 climate summit that Egypt hosted in 2022 was a focus of the family’s efforts, with them urging then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to raise their plight, but still El-Fattah was detained.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was delighted byu El-Fattah’s return
Yvette Cooper also celebrated the reunification
El-Fattah’s mother, Laila, on the 134th day of her hunger strike
His family campaigned tirelessly for his release
Then, his mother, Laila Soueif, embarked on a hunger strike to bring attention to her son’s case in late 2024.
After beginning as a partial strike, it escalated into a full hunger strike in the summer of this year – and she was hospitalised and warned she was on the brink of death.
Keir Starmer promised to do everything possible to ensure Mr El-Fattah’s release – but the activist previously said the perceived lack of support from the British government was making him consider giving up his citizenship.
He wrote in a letter in December 2024, according to the Guardia: ‘I wonder if he’s [Starmer] paying any attention to me.
‘I’ve said from the start that if they can’t or don’t want to or don’t care to argue about a consular visit then one can’t look to them for a release, because it means they basically don’t recognise me as citizen and they endorse the local authority not recognising me as a human being.
‘So probably the next step is to give up both nationalities and live without either (optimistic, of course, since this assumes life in some future stage).’
