Current Cases

Background

Alaa Abd El-Fattah (b. November 18, 1981) is an Egyptian software developer, blogger and pro-democracy activist. He rose to prominence during the Arab Spring and was instrumental in bringing about the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak. He and his wife, Manal Hassan, created the online blog aggregators Manalaa and Omraneya, the first Arab blog aggregators to not exclude writing based on its content. 

El-Fattah has been arrested and detained multiple times for his activism. He was first arrested in 2006 during a peaceful protest, and again in 2011 when he took part in the Tahrir Square protests. In November 2013, he was arrested and charged for organizing a political protest without a permit. After being detained for 115 days without trial, he was released on bail in March 2014, but three months later was sentenced, in absentia, to 15 years in jail for violating Egypt’s Protest Law. 

While he was in prison, Fitzcarraldo Editions published a collection of Abd El-Fattah’s work in October 2021. On December 20, 2021, Abd El-Fattah was sentenced to an additional five years in prison on charges of “broadcasting false news” related to a social media post. 

Following a successful appeal by his family to the British government to grant him UK citizenship, Abd El-Fattah began to ask the Egyptian government to speak to British officials. He was then transferred to Wadi El-Natrun prison from Tora prison, where he was allegedly tortured and beaten by prison officials.

In April, 2022, Abd El-Fattah began a hunger strike in protest against prison conditions and to demand recourse for mistreatment and abuse. His family successfully appealed to the British government to grant Abd El-Fattah UK citizenship on April 12, and he began to ask the Egyptian government for consular visits from British officials. On May 18, Abd El-Fattah was transferred to Wadi El-Natrun prison from Tora maximum security prison, where he was allegedly tortured and beaten by prison officials. 

Alaa Abd El-Fattah received PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award in 2023. His sister, Sanaa Seif, graciously accepted the award on his behalf on stage at the Toronto International Festival of Authors in 2023.