Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned high-profile Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, after a lengthy imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes that prompted international pleas for his release, Al Qahera news said on Monday. Abdel Fattah, 43, became Egypt's most prominent political prisoner after spending much of his adult life in and out of detention due to his activism, and a rare symbol of opposition to a far-reaching crackdown under Sisi. Abdel Fattah, who obtained British citizenship through his mother in 2021, comes from a family of well-known activists and intellectuals who have launched multiple campaigns to plead for his release. In 2014, Abdel Fattah was sentenced for protesting without permission to 15 years in prison, later reduced to five years. Abdel Fattah has also staged multiple hunger strikes in detention to protest against his imprisonment and in solidarity with his mother, most recently in early September.