President El-Sisi affirms commitment to constitutional rights

CAIRO – 21 August 2024: After the National Dialogue submitted its recommendations on pretrial detention and criminal justice to the President, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the government to promptly take the necessary steps to implement the agreed-upon recommendations.

This move is in response to the diverse and specialized discussions held during the National Dialogue.

President Sisi stated, "My response to the National Dialogue recommendations is driven by a sincere desire to uphold the provisions of the Egyptian Constitution and the National Human Rights Strategy."

The National Dialogue was initiated by the president in April 2022 to engage various sectors of society, including politicians, parliament members, and political forces, in discussions on key national issues.

Sisi has directed referring the recommendations to the government and ordered prompt actions to implement the agreed-upon ones, responding to the diverse and specialized discussions of the National Dialogue, the statement added.

The discussions of the dialogue addressed issues related to the duration and alternatives of pretrial detention, handling multiple and concurrent crimes, compensation for wrongful pretrial detention, and measures accompanying preventive detention.

The dialogue sessions held to discuss the matter involved around 120 speakers, with the participation of politicians, human rights activists, public figures, representatives of political parties, heads of human rights organizations, and representatives of the Presidential Pardon Committee, said the dialogue.

In recent years, the Egyptian prosecution has released hundreds of pretrial detainees, and many others have received presidential pardons since the launch of the dialogue and the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee.

The board of the National Dialogue has consistently advocated for the release of pretrial detainees, including those who were recently arrested for engaging in activities that support the Palestinian people during the ongoing war in Gaza.