"Alaa has spent most of the last decade behind bars , punished for little more than his words. In June 2014, Egypt accused him of violating its protest law and attacking a police officer. He was convicted in absentia and to fifteen years in prison, after being prohibited from entering the courthouse. Following an appeal, Alaa was granted a retrial, and in February 2015 to five years in prison."
"In 2019, he was finally released, first into police custody then to his family. As part of his parole, he was told he would have to spend every night of the next five years at a police station, but six months later-on September 29, 2019-Alaa was re-arrested in a massive sweep of activists and charged with spreading false news and belonging to a terrorist organisation after sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt."
Alaa Abd El Fattah was pardoned by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and returned home to his family on September 22. Video shows him dancing with relatives and embracing his mother Laila and sister Sanaa. He faced multiple prosecutions since 2014, including a 2014 conviction in absentia and a 2015 five-year sentence after a retrial. He was released in 2019 under strict parole, re-arrested on September 29, 2019, on charges of spreading false news and belonging to a terrorist organisation related to a Facebook post about torture. Authorities kept him detained past his sentence; Amnesty reported denial of legal access, consular visits, fresh air, and sunlight, and family members expressed grave health concerns. His mother launched a prolonged hunger strike when release failed to occur.
Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation
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