![Protestors and human right activists gather outside the National Assembly to protest against Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's visit to France, in Paris on December 8, 2020. [Alaattin Doğru - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201208_2_45759247_60449527-1.jpg)
Egyptian authorities released political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah late on Monday, just hours after he and five others were granted a presidential pardon. Alaa Abdel Fattah’s sisters, Sanaa and Mona, confirmed that he had been released, before activists took the first photo of him at home after spending years in prison. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi granted the pardon to Alaa Abdel Fattah, 43, who has been one of the most prominent figures in Egypt’s political movement since the January 2011 revolution. He had spent more than five years in prison. Earlier this month, the National Council for Human Rights submitted a request to the presidency asking for Abdel Fattah and others to be pardoned, citing the difficult health and humanitarian […]
