(22 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Via zoom from Berlin – 22 September 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ali, Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s lawyer:
"(Regarding) Alaa Abd el-Fattah, today his excellency the President (of Egypt) issued a decision of pardoning him and another seven (prisoners). These are the seven whom the National Council for Human Rights urged (their release) and the president had ordered to look into the possibility of pardoning them. Today the pardoning decision was issued, but at the moment it has not been published in the official gazette. Once the decision is published in the official gazette, the procedure of releasing Alaa Abd el-Fattah will begin."
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2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ali, Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s lawyer:
"There are two ways (to release Alaa). There’s the way that as long as a pardoning decision is issued, they can directly release them from the prison right after they receive the decision – or that every one of them gets deported to the police station of his neighborhood. It’s known that Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s neighborhood is in Dokki, so he will be released from Dokki police station or released directly from the prison, Wadi Natron Prison, to his house."
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3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ali, Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s lawyer:
"I knew about the decision minutes before it was published. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone from the family so I had to publish, and then after I spoke to Mona (el-Fattah’s sister). Mona is in London and she was crying of course. I spoke with Sanaa (el-Fattah’s sister) and she got in a car headed to the prison, so she can wait for him there. I still have not had a chance to speak to Laila (el-Fattah’s mother) because she is getting so many phone calls, creating a lot of pressure on her and everybody wants to congratulate her. But the family is very happy that Alaa’s tragedy is now over. We hope similar pardons are given to hundreds of others like Alaa that deserve to be released."
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4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ali, Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s lawyer:
"Of course Alaa will want to spend time with his family and at the same time, Alaa’s son is in school in France and he will need to see him as soon as possible. He will likely stay in Egypt for a little while, travel to see his son and come back to Egypt again."
STORYLINE:
Egyptian authorities on Monday announced the presidential pardon of prominent activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who has been in prison for almost all of the past 12 years.
A statement from the president’s office said that another five prisoners were also pardoned. It was not immediately clear when they would walk free.
The activist’s lawyer, Khaled Ali, told the Associated Press on Monday that Abd el-Fattah is expected to be released from Wadi Natron Prison, just north of Cairo, immediately after the state’s decision is published in the country’s official gazette, which he expects is likely within the next two days.
Abd el-Fattah was a leading voice in the country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising and has engaged in multiple hunger strikes behind bars.
His ordeal became emblematic of the fraying of Egypt’s democracy.
The activist took part in the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic former President Hosni Mubarak, and later was active in protests against human rights abuses as well as military trials of civilians.
He was first sent to prison in 2014 for participating in an unauthorized protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer, before being released in early 2019.
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