Egyptian Blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah Released on Bail

As soon as he was released, Alaa Abdel-Fattah ran into the arms of his wife and dozens of enthusiastic friends and activists eagerly waiting outside a Cairo police station.

The renowned Egyptian blogger had spent 115 days behind bars without trial and was finally released on bail on March 23, 2014. He will stand trial on April 6.

Abd El Fattah was violently beaten and arrested from his Cairo home on November 28, 2013 allegedly for breaking a newly imposed anti-protest law in Egypt. He is accused of “organising a ‘No to Military Trial for Civilians’ protest”.

This video, posted by Mahmoud Salmani shows Abdel Fattah being welcomed by family and friends as he left the police station:

And Galal Amr shared this photograph showing Abdel Fattah embracing his wife Manal Hassan:

In his first tweet after his release, Abdel Fattah vowed “to continue” [ar]:

“We will continue..”

Nadine Marroushi translates the tweet:

Doko is spray paint in the Egyptian dialect.

In addition to Abd El Fattah, Ahmed Abdel Rahman was also released today. Abdel Rahman, who was passing by the protest, was arrested along with Abd El Fattah, as he was helping some young women who were being harassed by the police.

On Twitter, celebrations were in full swing. Ahdaf Souief, Abdel Fattah's aunt, exclaimed:

Mona Seif, Abdel Fattah's sister, celebrated her brother's release saying:

Alaa and Ahmed are on the street .. This is the greatest sentence in the world

Despite the release order, Abdel Fattah's family was made to wait for hours outside the police station to collect him. Seif described the ordeal:

We have been waiting outside the police headquarters and don't understand the reason for the delay. Some journalists are calling us to tell us that their sources are telling them they will be released tomorrow

And she added:

The bails have been paid and we have completed the formalities with the Public Prosecution and the police station and Ahmed Abdelrahman has left the police car and has been in the police station for a long period of time. Why is the delay and why is there so much redtape in each step?

The case has been adjourned to April 6.

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