New group of prisoners released in Egypt as per presidential pardon

CAIRO – 2 June 2022: A new group of prisoners have been released as per a presidential decree, on Thursday.

The newly-released prisoners are Kholoud Saeed, Hussein Khamis, Shebel Mabrouk, Abdel Rahman Moka, Alaa Essam Ramadan, Mohamed Mohy El-Din Mohamed.

Lawmaker Tariq al-Khouli, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, had previously stated that the committee is working on releasing more prisoners.

On May 4, 2022, a total of 986 inmates have been pardoned by President Sisi on Eid al-Fitr, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior.

The Presidential Pardon Committee works with the relevant authorities and several NGOs to pardon those who meet the conditions.

The Ministry of Interior said this comes as it follows the “modern sense” of punitive policy. Meanwhile, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi launched the national human rights strategy in September with vows to open the public space to be more and more inclusive.

Also, three journalists were released as per a presidential pardon, and 41 activists were released from pre-trial detention per a State Security Prosecution decree on April 24-15.

Criteria for inmates who could be pardoned per a presidential decree was revealed by a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, which has been reactivated by Sisi in April.

In an interview with Youm7, the committee member Tarek el-Awady said that anyone who did not shed blood nor participated in acts of violence and terrorism would be released and those who served the time of pre-trial detention must be released immediately or referred to a trial.

“Those who participated in a protest, wrote [anti-government] posts on social media, or distributed leaflets must be included in [the list of] presidential pardon or released if they are in pretrial detention,” said, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, which has been reactivated by President Sisi, in an interview with Youm7.