Alaa Abd El-Fatah

Alaa Abd El Fattah () is an Egyptian blogger, software developer, and political activist. He is known for co-founding (along with his wife Manal) the Egyptian blog aggregator "Manalaa". "Arabization - It's Harder than just Right to Left" December 2004

Background

Alaa grew up in a family of activists and activism was a constant topic of discussion in Alaa's childhood. His father, Ahmad Seif, a human rights attorney who had been tortured and imprisoned for five years, was the manager of Hesham Mubarak Law Centre. His mother, Laila Suief, is a mathematics professor at Cairo University and a political activist. During a demonstration in 2005 she, along with other women, were atacked by Mubarak supporters; Alaa was said to have protected his mother..

May 2006 arrest and reaction

On 7 May, 2006, he was arrested during a peaceful protest after he called for an independent judiciary. His arrest, along with that of several other bloggers and activists,}

Alaa was released on 20 June, 2006, after...
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