Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Alaa Abd El-Fattah
علاء عبد الفتاح
Abd El-Fattah in 2008
Born
علاء أحمد سيف إلاسلام عبد الفتاح

(1981-11-18) 18 November 1981 (age 43)
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityEgyptian, British
CitizenshipEgyptian citizenship, British citizenship - dual citizenship
SpouseManal Bahey El-Din Hassan (div. 2019)
Children1 son
Parents
Relatives

Alaa Ahmed Seif Abd-El Fattah (Arabic: علاء أحمد سيف الإسلام عبد الفتاح, IPA: [ʕæˈlæːʔ ˈæħmæd ˈseːf ʕæbdelfatˈtæːħ]; born 18 November 1981), known professionally as Alaa Abd El-Fattah (Arabic: علاء عبد الفتاح), is an Egyptian-British blogger, software developer and a political activist. He has been active in developing Arabic-language versions of software and platforms.[1]

He was imprisoned in Egypt for allegedly organising a political protest without requesting authorization, though he was released on bail on 23 March 2014.[2] He was rearrested and ordered released on bail again on 15 September 2014,[3] subsequently sentenced to a month of jail in absentia,[4] and received a five-year sentence in February 2015,[5] which he was released from in late March 2019. Abd El-Fattah remained subject to a five-year parole period, requiring him to stay at a police station for 12 hours daily, from evening until morning.[6] On 29 September, during the 2019 Egyptian protests, Abd El-Fattah was arrested by the National Security Agency and taken to State Security Prosecution on charges that were unknown as of 29 September 2019.[7] He was subsequently convicted of "spreading fake news" and jailed for five years. In April 2022 he began a hunger strike. His sentence should have ended on 29 September 2024[8] but the Egyptian authorities refused to free him, pushing the release date to 2027, based on the decision not to include his served pretrial detention.[9]

  1. ^ Worldchanging essay Archived 14 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine "Arabization – It's Harder than just Right to Left" December 2004
  2. ^ "Activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah released on bail". Ahram Online. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Updated: Egypt court orders release of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Noubi, Metwali on bail". Ahram Online. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Alaa Abd El Fattah sentenced to month in prison". Mada Masr. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  5. ^ "Alaa Abdel Fattah: Egypt jails activist-blogger for five years". BBC News. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Released but imprisoned daily: Alaa Seif on the need for new imaginations". Mada Masr. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah arrested from police probation". Mada Masr. 29 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Egypt: Lawyer fears activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah will be held beyond prison release date". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Egypt refuses to free jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah: sister". Yahoo News. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.