Freed British-Egyptian activist not allowed to fly to UK, family says

British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was prevented from flying to the UK earlier this week due to Egyptian passport control, his family said.

Abdel Fattah, 43, was Egypt’s best-known political prisoner until seven weeks ago; By then, he had been released from prison after being pardoned by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

She tried to fly to London with her sister Sanaa on Tuesday, but Cairo International Airport officials told her she was not allowed to travel.

“They stopped her from getting on the plane and I had to go alone,” Sanaa told the BBC’s Today program on Friday. There has been no comment yet from the Egyptian government.

Sanaa said, “They did not explain much. Our lawyers in Egypt are trying to understand the legal basis.” he said.

He added that his brother had a British passport as well as a recently renewed Egyptian passport.

“I was assuming he would be allowed in after the renewal of his Egyptian passport.”

Alaa Abdel Fattah’s 13-year-old son, Khaled, lives with his mother in Brighton and attends a special needs school there because he is on the autism spectrum.

After his release from prison, Khalid spent a month visiting his father in Cairo, but has now returned to the UK.

“We are really happy [Alaa] Ms. Seif said that we entered our lives with some freedom, but that she needed freedom of movement to live with her son and to be reunited with him.

He added: “Khaled needs his father. My nephew… is very, very comfortable in his school and his environment in Brighton. We can’t change. We can’t continue to create instability.”

Ms Seif said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was in contact with her family about the matter, but called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s office to also look into the matter.

FCDO said in a statement: “President Sisi’s decision to pardon and release Alaa Abdel Fattah was extremely welcome news and an important step forward.”

“We continue to press for his urgent return to the UK at the highest levels of the Egyptian government so that he can be reunited with his family. The case remains a priority for the UK government.”

On Thursday night, Alaa Abdel Fattah and his mother were presented with the 2025 Magnitsky Award for “Courage Under Fire.” Sanaa had to accept the award on their behalf.

Mr. Abdel Fattah rose to prominence during the 2011 uprising that forced Egypt’s long-time President Hosni Mubarak to resign.

Sisi spent most of his time in prison after 2014, the year after he led the military to overthrow Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, following anti-government protests.

While in power, Sisi oversaw an unprecedented crackdown on dissidents that human rights groups say has led to the detention of thousands of people.

In 2015, a court sentenced Mr. Abdel Fattah to five years in prison for participating in an unauthorized protest.

He was rearrested in September 2019, just six months after being released on parole, and remained in pre-trial detention for more than two years.

In December 2021, he was found guilty of “spreading false news” for posting about a prisoner’s torture death and was sentenced to a further five years in prison after a trial that human rights groups said was grossly unfair.

Her 68-year-old mother, Leila, started a 287-day hunger strike last September 2024 to protest her imprisonment. He lost more than 40% of his original body weight and was twice admitted to hospital in London.