Sisi grants presidential pardon to 600 convicted prisoners

CAIRO – 8 August 2024: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has instructed the necessary legal measures to grant a presidential pardon to 600 individuals convicted of various crimes, Extra News channel reported on Thursday.

Details regarding the identities of those set to be pardoned have not yet been disclosed.

These pardons follow two weeks after the National Dialogue, an initiative launched in response to Sisi's call in April 2022 to promote freedom of expression and address critical issues, announced its intention to submit a list of detainees for presidential clemency consideration.

In recent years, the Egyptian prosecution has released numerous pretrial detainees, while many convicts received presidential pardons following Sisi’s call for the National Dialogue and the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in 2022.

Since then, several political activists, journalists, and other prominent individuals have been granted release through presidential pardons.

Moreover, over the past decade, thousands have received presidential pardons during national and religious occasions, based on specific criteria.