The pardon committee members posted photos for the released detainees while reunited with their families.

The detainees were jailed pending investigation in different opinion cases.

Over 1,000 pretrial detainees and tens of convicted prisoners have been released in batches since the re-activation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has also pardoned many high-profile political activists who had received final sentences, including Hossam Mones, Yehia Abdel-Hady, and Hisham Fouad, since the re-activation of the committee and the beginning of preparations for the National Dialogue in May.

In September, the 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.

The Presidential Pardon Committee, first formed in 2016, receives suggestions of names of prisoners to be considered for a presidential pardon from parties and political entities such as the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and parliament’s Human Rights Committee.

The committee also receives suggestions directly through its website.

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