A prominent Egyptian activist, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, is facing the prospect of remaining behind bars until 2027, despite his family’s hopes for his release on Sunday.
Abd el-Fattah, a software developer and blogger, has been detained since 2019.
His lawyer recently stated that authorities are not planning to count his pretrial detention towards his sentence, meaning he could remain in prison for an additional two years.
A coalition of 59 Egyptian and international civil society groups has condemned the potential continued detention, arguing that it would violate Egypt’s criminal procedure code.
Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, expressed her frustration and disbelief in an interview with Reuters.
“He has been telling me for a month to stop bringing books in order to empty the prison cell,” she said.
“As per our tradition, we act as if the right things will happen, and when they don’t happen, we protest.”
Abd el-Fattah has become a symbol of the crackdown on dissent in Egypt, where tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned.
His case has drawn international attention, particularly during his hunger strike in 2022, which coincided with Egypt’s hosting of the COP27 climate summit.