Family members of A prisoner hold him after being released as part of presidential pardon on National Police Day in front of 15 of May Correction and rehabilitation center
The Ministry of Interior said its social protection department studied the files on inmates in rehabilitation and correctional centres nationwide to determine those eligible for a presidential pardon.
The ministry concluded that 4187 inmates are eligible for release by pardon, the statement read, adding that the decision to release the prisoners accords with "the interior ministry’s modern punitive policy and the care it provides to inmates."
In recent years, Egypt has released, through presidential pardons, thousands of inmates on different national and religious occasions.
Wednesday, 25 January, marks the twelfth anniversary of the 2011 revolution that ousted late President Hosni Mubarak; it also marks Police Day in Egypt, commemorating the Battle of Ismailia, in which 50 police officers were killed and more wounded when they refused British demands to hand over weapons and evacuate the Ismailia Police Station on 25 January 1952.
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