Joy as activist Abd el-Fattah freed from prison in Egypt

British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been released from prison in Egypt after spending more than a decade behind bars, following a presidential pardon issued by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

- BEL TREW

Mr Abd el-Fattah's mother, Laila Soueif - also a British citizen - has campaigned tirelessly for his release, and earlier this year nearly died on a hunger strike that lasted for more than 280 days, according to medics.

"I can't even describe what I feel," Ms Soueif said as she stood next to her son.

The 43-year-old writer and father had become one of Egypt's most prominent political prisoners, having spent most of his adult life in jail on what human rights groups said were trumped-up charges. While behind bars, he missed the birth of his son, Khaled, and also the death of his father Ahmed Seif al-Islam, who was a prominent human rights lawyer.

Mr Abd el-Fattah was finally released at 1am yesterday, local time, calling his family after he had been driven to Cairo from Wadi el-Natrun prison, just south of the capital.

"We're happy, of course. But our greatest joy will come when there are no [political] prisoners in Egypt," Ms Soueif said. Social media posts showed Mr Abd el-Fattah, wearing a yellow T-shirt, embracing his mother.

His younger sister, Sanaa Seif, who was waiting outside the prison for him all evening, later wrote on Facebook: "Alaa is home. He called me from our neighbour's number while we were at the prison waiting. We're on our way back to him."

Later, his other sister Mona shared photos of the family in an emotional embrace at their flat in Cairo, writing: "An exceptionally kind day. Alaa is free."

"The world is full of nightmares, injustice, violence, and many things that break the heart... but we can take a breath and give happiness a chance to fill our hearts... and keep going," she wrote.