Egypt s Interior Ministry headquarters in downtown Cairo (Reuters)
The three released prisoners are Said Ibrahim, Mohamed El-Gharib, and Mohamed Morsy, according to the decree.
The prisoners were convicted in the case known as the “Council of Ministers case” that dates back to December 2011, months after the 25th of January Revolution.
Dozens of people in the case received prison sentences ranging from five to 25 years in prison over charges including sabotage, resisting authorities using force, and setting fire into government buildings during December 2011 protests.
Convicts in the case include renowned activist Ahmed Douma and actor and director Tarek El-Nahri, both of whom received final 15-year prison sentences in 2020.
The new group of pretrial detainees released today by the Supreme State Security Prosecution includes nine people detained in different cases, human rights lawyer Tarek El-Awady — a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee — tweeted on Thursday.
The detainees’ names are Ashraf Mohamed, Adel Ezzat, Mohamed Gamil, Ahmed Abdel-Nasser, Ali Harby, Khaled Khalil, Youssef Zaki, Ahmed El-Sayed, and Shawki Talaat, El-Awady said.
Over the past weeks, many detainees have been released and others were pardoned after Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April.
In May, El-Awady said the committee is working on a list of pardon requests for 2,418 detainees and prisoners drafted by a group of human rights groups.
More than 4,000 prisoners were granted presidential pardons in April and May on the occasion of Eid El-Fitr and Sinai Liberation Day.
Recently, Egyptian authorities released several journalists as well as activist Magdy Korkor, producer Moetaz Abdel-Wahab, and prominent activist and Karama Party member Hossam Mones, alongside others.
The restructured committee has said it will receive pardon requests through many avenues, including through the National Youth Conference website.
The committee will also receive requests through the complaints committee of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and via email to the human rights committees in both the House of the Representatives and Senate.
Pardon requests can also be submitted directly to the members of the pardon committee, according to the statement.
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