Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah released after 5 years in prison

CAIRO – 29 March 2019: Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah was released from prison early Friday after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests.

Abdel Fattah was detained in 2013 on several accusations, including rallying, inciting violence, resisting authorities and violating the Anti-protest Law.

Abdel Fattah, 37, will be placed on probation for five years.

In 2014, a criminal court sentenced him to 15 years in prison, but in 2017 an appeals court reduced the sentence to five years in prison and five years’ probation.

Abdel-Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, posted on Facebook that “Alaa is out,” along with a video of him at home, playing with a dog.