Member of Egypt's Presidential Pardon Committee says large number of prisoners to be released in few days

CAIRO – 16 August 2022: Member of the Presidential Pardon Committee Kamal Abou Eita stated in a phone-in Monday that a large number of prisoners would be released in a few days.

Abou Eita added that the committee processes all pardon requests it receives, and that it communicates will several security bodies to ensure that applicants were not involved in violence, before endorsing them for freeing.

Member of the Presidential Pardon Committee Tarek al-Awady declared Monday on Facebook the release of Lawyer and Activist Mohamed Ramadan, who was being prosecuted in custody in "opinion lawsuits."

Egyptian imprisoned activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Khaled Lutfi, Ahmed Douma, Ziad Al-Alimi, a number of TV presenters on the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera network, members of the 6th of April Movement, and the defendants in the Hope Cell are on the list of presidentially pardoned inmates, Member of the Presidential Pardon Committee Tareq El Awady announced on July 16.

Awady added in comments to the talk show “Hadith Al Kahira” that authorities reviewed many of the names and did not receive a refusal regarding specific names.

On that same day, six inmates were released as per a presidential pardon. Their names as announced by lawmaker Mohamed Abdel Aziz, member of the Presidential Pardon Committee are:

1. Mohab Yousry El-Ibrashi

2. Bassam Jalal Al-Sayed

3. Amr Imam

4. Abdel Nasser Salama

5. Yahya Zakaria Othman Negm

6. Mumtaz Fathi Abdel Wahab Qassem

On July 9, 2022, committees assigned to review files of prisoners nationwide announced that 1,270 prisoners are eligible for pardon as they meet the conditions set for pardoning inmates.

This came under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's decree no 297 of 2022 on pardoning some prisoners on Eid Al Adha.

This falls within the framework of the Interior Ministry's keenness on applying modern punitive policies and qualifying inmates to re-join society.

A batch of imprisoned debtors in Egypt, comprising 75 men and women, will leave prison on July 14, Tarek El-Khouli, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee member said.

Late in June, Egyptian Presidential Pardon Committee member Tarek El-Awadi said a new list including a batch of prisoners of conscience will be released within days on the occasion of the 30 June Revolution.

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

Committee Member Tarek El-Khouli 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,” Khouli said.

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

Khouli 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, Khouli added.