Alaa Abd al-Fattah, symbol of Sisi’s arbitrary rule

After more than six consecutive years behind bars, the prominent Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd al-Fattah was greeted with hugs and tears on Tuesday morning at his family home in Giza.In photos published the day after his release, which was granted under a presidential pardon that also covered five other detainees, the 43-year-old activist is seen with a wide smile alongside his mother, Laila Soueif, a well-known academic and human rights advocate, and his sister Sanaa Seif.“I cannot even describe what I feel,” his mother told reporters, after recently ending a 10-month partial hunger strike that brought on the critical deterioration of her health.Abd al-Fattah also went on a hunger strike in early September, after holding a partial one in March in solidarity with his mother while she was hospitalized.A leading figure of the 2011...