Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) headquarters.
In a letter addressed to the president on Monday, the council said the exercise of presidential clemency would embody “the humanitarian dimension of the state and reflects Your Excellency’s personal concern for the integrity of the Egyptian family, especially vulnerable groups (children, persons with disabilities, women, and the elderly).”
The Egyptian Constitution empowers the President to grant individual pardons. This authority, exercised frequently on national and religious occasions, reduces or eliminates sentences without overturning verdicts.
The appeal named seven prisoners for consideration: Alaa Abd El-Fattah, Saeed Magly Elewa, Karam Abdel Samea Ismail Al-Saadani, Walaa Gamal Saad Mohamed, Mohamed Awad Abdo Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif, and Mansour Abdel Jaber Ali Abdel Razek.
The council said it had received repeated petitions from families and reviewed their cases before making the appeal. “In light of the petitions received by the Council, which have been studied and whose humanitarian dimensions have been thoroughly considered, we appeal to Your Excellency to kindly consider issuing a presidential pardon,” it wrote.
The letter described the pardons as a step that would ease the hardship of relatives. This request comes in view of the difficult family circumstances endured by their relatives, adding that “such a decision would represent a deeply significant moral incentive for the families of those mentioned and would substantially contribute to restoring their stability as well as their psychological and social balance.”
Egypt’s government has launched several initiatives in recent years to review pretrial detentions and issue presidential pardons. Hundreds have been released so far.
Short link: