Egyptian authorities to release 70 pretrial detainees: Presidential Pardon committee

Ahram Online , Tuesday 11 Oct 2022

Egyptian authorities started on Tuesday the process for the release, pending investigations, of 70 pretrial detainees, the Presidential Pardon committee announced.

Tarek El-Awady
File Photo: Tarek El-Awady, member of the Presidential Pardon Committee. Al-Ahram

 

Members of the Presidential Pardon committee lawyer Tarek El-Awady and MP Mohamed Abdel-Aziz announced that this batch of pretrial detainees is the largest to be released, pending investigations, since the reactivation of the committee in April in accordance with the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The Public Prosecution had ordered in early October the release of 50 pretrial detainees

In recent months, the Public Prosecution has ordered the release of hundreds of pretrial detainees in groups.

In September, authorities released over 100 pretrial detainees on several occasions, including Ahmed El-Nagdy, a journalist at the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV channel, and prominent leftist activist and lawyer Haitham Mohamadein.

Since the re-activation of the pardon committee and the start of preparations in May for the National Dialogue , President El-Sisi has pardoned many high-profile political activists who had received final sentences.

These included Hossam MonesYahia Abdel-HadyHisham Fouad and others.

The pardon committee, which was first formed in 2016, receives the names of prisoners to be considered for presidential pardon through various channels,  including the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), parliament’s Human Rights Committee, as well as through its official website.

The scope of work of the reactivated committee has recently been expanded to include imprisoned debtors.

The government and various political factions are preparing for the extensive National Dialogue set to begin within a few weeks.

The dialogue will discuss pressing political, economic and social issues.  

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