Today (September 22, 2025), President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a pardon for Alaa Abd El Fattah, one of Egypt’s most prominent activists and writers. Detained since 2019 and sentenced in 2021 to five years on “false news” charges, his case came to symbolise Egypt’s use of the judiciary to silence dissent. His release comes alongside five others: Saeed Magly al-Daw Eleiwa, Karam Abdel Sameea Ismail al-Saadany, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif and Mansour Abdel Gaber Ali Abdel Razeq.
While Abd El Fattah’s release is significant, it’s important to situate it within the broader system of political imprisonment in Egypt. Since al-Sisi came to power in 2013, human rights groups estimate that as many as 60,000 political prisoners have been held in Egyptian jails. This includes activists, journalists, academics, opposition party members, and ordinary citizens accused of little more than a tweet, a Facebook post, or participating in peaceful protest.
The Egyptian state has perfected mechanisms of control such as pre-trial detention renewed indefinitely, a practice where charges are recycled into new cases to ensure prisoners remain incarcerated beyond their legal sentences. Reports by the New York Times, Amnesty International, and Egyptian NGOs have documented detainees being transferred to new cases after completing terms, making the legal system itself a tool of repression.
Prison conditions are equally dire. Hunger strikes, overcrowding, denial of medical care, and punitive transfers to remote facilities remain routine. Even in newly built prisons, detainees are confined without sunlight and visitation rights are curtailed, violating both Egyptian law and international standards such as the Mandela Rules. Families have reported invasive searches, harassment, and the confiscation of personal belongings. For every high-profile name that garners global attention, tens of thousands remain silenced behind bars.
