306 prisoners released on parole

CAIRO – 9 May 2019: A total of 467 prisoners were released on Thursday on the occasion of Sinai Liberation Day Egypt celebrates annually on April 25.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior released 170 of inmates as per a presidential pardon, while the rest of 306 prisoners were released on parole, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

On April 30, the Ministry released 518 inmates on parole, while 67 others were granted the presidential pardon.

According to the constitution, the president has the right to issue pardons for convicted prisoners after consulting with the Cabinet.

In October 2016, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi announced the formation of a presidential pardon committee, headed by political thinker, Osama al-Ghazaly Harb, for pardoning detainees with charges pending further investigation.

The Sinai Peninsula was liberated from Israeli occupation following the Egypt-Israel peace treaty signed in Washington in 1979.