Maikel Nabil is an exiled Egyptian blogger, political and LGBT rights activist. In April 2009, Nabil began a campaign to demand his right to exemption from military service as a conscientious objector. After being arrested, he was finally granted an exemption from military service the following year. Nabil took on a leadership role in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and was arrested on multiple occasions as a consequence. After a military tribunal sentenced him to three years in prison, Nabil went on hunger strike in August 2011. Political pressure and popular protests in his support forced the Military Ruling Council to pardon him in January 2012.