New group of 39 pretrial detainees to leave Egyptian prisons Monday: Pardon committee

CAIRO – 26 September 2022: A new group of 39 pretrial detainees will leave Egyptian prisons on Monday, Presidential Pardon Committee member and parliamentarian Tarek El-Khouly said.

“The pardon committee is coordinating and cooperating with the state authorities and the Public Prosecution to release 39 pretrial detainees,” Khouly said in a Facebook post.

The presidential pardon committee member published the names of the detainees set to be released today.

Egypt has released hundreds of inmates over the past month since President Sisi called for a national dialogue in April, including pretrial detainees and pardoned inmates.

The Presidential Pardon Committee, formed in 2016 and reactivated by Sisi in April, aims to release young prisoners of conscience and reintegrate them into society.

The Egyptian Prosecution’s decisions to release a number of pretrial detainees give further momentum to the National Dialogue, said dialogue coordinator, Diaa Rashwan.

In remarks during his TV program “Masr Jadida” on ETC, Rashwan said the prosecution’s decisions encourage further parties of different orientations to conduct the dialogue.

He added that the next period will see consecutive releases.

Khouly previously explained to Egypt Today the criteria that the recently revived committee’s work is based on to prepare pardon lists.

“Our work while preparing the pardon lists and choosing names conform to two criteria; first, they must not be part of a terrorist group and second, they must not have engaged in violence and bloodshed crimes,” Khouly said.

He added that all those who do meet these criteria have the chance of being included in the pardon lists.

Khouly affirmed that the committee receives pardon requests via many avenues, including through the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and the human rights committees of the House of Representatives and Senate.

In addition, the committee receives pardon requests through the National Youth Conference website, Khouly added.