Alaa Abd El Fattah is finally free and at home with his family. Alaa is free." Alaa has spent most of the last decade behind bars, punished for little more than his words. When Egyptian authorities failed to release Alaa last year, his mother, Laila Soueif, launched a hunger strike. She continued until July of this year, when she finally ended the strike following direct commitments from UK officials that Alaa would be freed.