Pardoned by Al-Sisi in September, Alaa Abd el-Fattah returned to London in recent days and apologized for the tweets from 15 years ago. But the Faragistas are calling for his citizenship to be revoked
LONDON – It becomes a political case, and a new headache for Keir Starmer’s government, the return to England after more than 12 years in prison of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, one of the most famous Egyptian dissidents. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper has launched an internal investigation to ascertain the reasons for the “information failure” which has left the executive in the dark about some “repugnant” statements that el-Fattah had posted on social media about 15 years ago.
The blogger, born and raised in Egypt, had obtained British citizenship in 2021 thanks to his mother, Laila Soueif, a British citizen, who, in order to get a greater commitment from Downing Street in the release of her son, had undertaken a long hunger strike, ending up in hospital several times. Alaa’s detention was also defined as illegal by the United Nations in June. The pardon from President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi arrived in September, but the dissident had obtained permission to leave Egypt and join his family in Brighton only a few days ago. Starmer and other members of the government said they were “very pleased” with his return. Only later did the dissident’s comments inciting violence against Zionists and law enforcement come to light.
As the clamor grows, the conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform are calling for the possibility of rescinding el-Fattah’s citizenship to be considereda measure that is permitted by law only in the case of subjects who represent a danger to national security. If citizenship had been granted to el-Fattah when the conservatives were in governmentDowning Street defended the various interventions to secure his release. The prime minister’s spokesperson underlined that «the return of a British citizen unjustly detained abroad it is the expression of the United Kingdom’s commitment to political and religious freedom. This does not change the fact that we condemn these tweets and consider them abhorrent.”
With a statement, el-Fattah apologized “unequivocally” for words which, he underlined, belonged to “a frustrated and angry young man in a period of regional crises (the wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza), against the backdrop of increasing police brutality against Egyptian youth”. Despite his comments, he specified, “in the real world” he has always been deeply committed “to the non-violent pro-democratic movement”.
The controversy, however, shows no signs of dying down. Robert Jenrick, Justice Minister of the shadow government, accused el-Fattah of believing he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the right and the Zionists and highlighted some phrases of the activist’s sister, Mona Seif, who had praised the “imagination” of one of the October 7 attackers who had crossed the border into Israel with a glider.
December 31, 2025 (changed December 31, 2025 | 4:55 pm)
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