The wife of jailed Egyptian activist Mohamed Adel renewed her appeal on Friday for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to grant her husband a presidential pardon, saying his continued imprisonment has kept him behind bars for nearly 12 years and prevented them from starting a family.
In a video posted on Facebook, Rofeida Hamdy said Adel, a former spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement, is currently serving a four-year sentence at Gamasa prison following a conviction for spreading false news. She said she has spent more than a decade visiting him in prison and waiting for his release.
Adel was first arrested on Dec. 19, 2013, and accused of protesting without a permit outside the Abdeen court in case No. 9593 of 2013 (Abdeen misdemeanors). He was sentenced to three years, which he served, followed by an equal period under police probation.
Authorities detained him again in June 2018 at the Aga police station in Dakahlia while he was serving probation. He remained in pretrial detention until prosecutors charged him with spreading false news in case No. 2981 of 2023. He was sentenced to four years on Sept. 2, 2023.
In previous comments to Al Manassa, Hamdy said Adel’s pretrial detention was not counted toward his sentence, meaning it should have ended in January 2025. She said authorities instead calculated the term from the date of the verdict.
Hamdy said Adel has never been accused of violence or terrorism and that his conviction was for spreading false news. She said he has always adhered to peaceful activism.
Addressing El-Sisi, Hamdy asked him to intervene “as a compassionate father,” saying they were not “criminals or saboteurs” but citizens who love Egypt.
Hamdy launched a petition in September 2023 calling on El-Sisi to pardon Adel.
In May 2024, 80 Egyptian and international rights organizations called for Adel’s immediate release, saying he was being deprived of adequate food at Gamasa prison, harming his health.
