| | | Date: Mar 30, 2019 | | Source: The Daily Star |  |  |  |
| | Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah free after five years in prison | Associated Press
CAIRO: A leading Egyptian pro-democracy activist was freed from prison early Friday after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests, his family and lawyer said. The terms of his release, however, require that he report to a police station every day for the next five years. Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East, and in Egypt toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak. To many, his imprisonment three years later - at a time when authorities imposed draconian laws banning public gatherings and unauthorized demonstrations - was another sign of Egypt’s return to autocratic rule.
Abdel-Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, posted on Facebook that “Alaa is out,” along with a video of him at home, playing with a dog. His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release by posting: “Thanks God, Alaa Abdel-Fattah at home.”
Facebook pages set up in support of Abdel-Fattah, including “Free Alaa,” 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.
Though out of prison, Abdel-Fattah’s sentence stipulates that for the next five years he will be under “police observation” and has to sleep every night at his local police station.
An outspoken dissident, Abdel-Fattah was detained several times before under different governments for lobbying for civil rights on social media and in public. An influential blogger, he hails from a family of political activists, lawyers and writers. His late father was one of Egypt’s most tireless rights lawyers, his sisters are also political activists and his aunt is award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.
The demonstration that led to Abdel-Fattah’s arrest and sentencing was against trials of civilians before military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings. |
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