Egyptian political forces view presidential pardon of former MP Eleimy positive step toward national dialogue

CAIRO – 24 October 2022: Egyptian political parties and activists have hailed President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s decision to pardon renowned lawyer and former MP Zeyad El-Eleimy detained since 2019 among others in the case widely known as the “Hope Cell” scheme.

Pictures showed Eleimy while leaving prison and getting reunited with his family after more than three years of detention.

Who is Zeyad El-Eleimy?

Eleimy is a former member of the House of Representatives and founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.

Eleimy was one of 13 defendants arrested in June 2019 in the case on charges including spreading fake news and cooperating with an outlawed group.

In November, an Egyptian emergency state security misdemeanour court sentenced Eleimy to five years in prison.

Political activist Hossam Mones and renowned journalist Hesham Fouad were also convicted in the same case and received a four-year-prison sentence each.

However, both Mones and Fouad also received a presidential pardon this year.

Monday’s pardons also included two other convicts in other cases, namely Amr Qotb and Mohamed El-Gohary.

This raises the number of convicted activists who received presidential pardons since President Sisi reactivated the Presidential Pardon Committee in April to 15.

 

In April, President Sisi also ordered launching the National Dialogue, which aims to reach common grounds among political forces on national priorities.

Since then, hundreds of pretrial detainees have left Egyptian prisons based on decisions by the prosecution. According to Tarek El-Awady, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, 1,040 pretrial detainees left prison since 26 April.

The release of Eleimy came in response to demands of political forces, the CPYP, and the Presidential Pardon Committee, MP Tarek El-Khouly, a member of the pardon committee, said in a social media post today.

‘Positive step’ toward National Dialogue

Political forces, activists, officials, and public figures have praised Sisi’s decision to pardon Eleimy today as a positive message from the political leadership in support of the national dialogue, which is still under preparation.

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party hailed Eleimy’s release, affirming the importance of the presidential pardons released over the past period in ensuring the success of the National Dialogue.

The Congress Party said Sisi has been taking positive steps ahead of the National Dialogue, which affirms that Egypt is marching steadily toward a new republic and a new stage.

The Egyptian National Movement said the presidential pardon of Eleimy gives more trust in the “state’s sincere intentions to build a free country that accommodates everyone without exclusion or marginalization”.

The Coordination’s Committee of Parties’ Youth and Parties (CPYP) said Sisi’s decision reaffirms his permanent keenness to maintain Egyptian unity regardless of any intellectual or political ideologies.

 

“The CPYP affirms that the issuance of this decision at such time while the country is preparing for the comprehensive National Dialogue is a message from the political leadership to support the dialogue and fulfill everyone’s legitimate demands,” a statement by the committee added.

The Democratic Generation Party considered Eleimy’s release as “one of the blessings of the national dialogue that are ongoing, open dazzling horizons of light in front of us”.

In a statement, the Generation Party said such decisions give hope that Egypt can release all prisoners of conscience and pretrial detainees who are held over charges related to freedom of opinion and expression.

Closing pretrial detention file

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) said Sisi’s decision to pardon Eleimy, said that the recent release of prisoners confirms that the political leadership attaches great importance to closing the file of pretrial detention and those convicted in cases related to freedom of opinion and expression.

This comes especially after authorities released more than a thousand prisoners in the framework of the presidential pardon committee in the recent period.

 

Egyptian renowned opposition politician Hamdeen Sabahi, politician and journalist Khaled Dawoud, and activist Hossam Mones thanked Sisi for the decision.

Dawoud, former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt, congratulated Eleimy, saying his release proves the political leadership’s seriousness in making the National Dialogue a success.

Dawoud also reportedly called for pardoning renowned activists Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Doma, Mohamed El-Baqer, and Mohamed Oxygen.