Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah apologises for past social media posts

LONDON - Activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, freed from prison in Egypt and now in Britain, apologised on Dec 29 for his “shocking and hurtful” social media posts made more than a decade ago, which have led to calls from opposition British politicians for his deportation.

Mr Abd el-Fattah, 44, became Egypt’s most prominent political prisoner after spending much of his adult life in and out of detention owing to his activism.

He was a rare symbol of opposition during a far-reaching crackdown under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Mr Abd el-Fattah arrived in Britain on Dec 26 after obtaining British citizenship in 2021 through his mother, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was “delighted” by the news.

In the following days, British newspapers ran stories about posts made by Mr Abd el-Fattah on the former Twitter platform between 2008 and 2014, seen by Reuters, which endorsed violence against “Zionists” and the police.

In a statement, Mr Abd el-Fattah said many of his tweets had been misunderstood, but that others were unacceptable.

“Looking at the tweets now – the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning – I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,” Mr Abd el-Fattah said.

“They were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises – the wars on Iraq, on Lebanon and Gaza – and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.”

Mr Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, which currently tops opinion polls, called for Mr Abd el-Fattah’s deportation from Britain.

Ms Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said the country should consider it.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said his posts were of “profound concern” and showed a lack of due diligence among the British authorities.

Britain’s foreign office said it condemned Mr Abd el-Fattah’s past tweets and called them “abhorrent”, in a statement published on Dec 28.

Mr Abd el-Fattah was most recently serving a five-year sentence in Egypt imposed in December 2021, after he shared a social media post about a prisoner’s death. REUTERS