The ministry said its social protection department has studied the files of inmates in rehabilitation and correctional centres nationwide to determine those eligible for presidential pardon.

The decision reflects "the interior ministry’s firm intentions to establish a modern punitive policy and to provide the utmost care for inmates at correction centres,” the ministry said.

The ministry’s decision enforces President El-Sisi’s decree no. 458/2022 to release a number of convicts who are eligible for presidential pardon in celebration of the 6 October war victory, the ministry added.

\

A number of pardoned inmates appeared in a video released by the interior ministry in which they thanked President El-Sisi for the decree.

“We thank President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi because he gave us another chance. The decree confirms the president's previous assertion that an inmate should not be punished twice,” one of the pardoned inmates said.

Egypt has released thousands of inmates in recent years on different national and religious occasions as per presidential pardon decrees.

Moreover, since the president's call for a National Political Dialogue and a reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April, hundreds of inmates and pre-trial detainees have been released either by presidential pardon decrees or by decisions from the public prosecution

The restructured Presidential Pardon Committee, which was formed in 2016, receives requests for pardon through many channels, including the National Youth Conference website.

The committee also receives 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 Representatives and the Senate.

Pardon requests can also be submitted directly to the members of the pardon committee.