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Egypt’s Sisi to Pardon 300 Prisoners, Says ‘There Are No Political Prisoners’

August 24, 2016
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaking at a press conference. (i24 News)

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said he would issue pardons for more than 300 detainees within the upcoming days, local newspapers reported Tuesday. In an interview with the country’s three main state-owned newspapers – Al Ahram, Al Akhbar and Al Gomhoureya – that the list of pardons includes prisoners “with medical conditions and youth who participated in protests.” The pardons, which will coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, would also include a number of journalists, according to the president. Sisi issued a presidential decree during the same time last year pardoning 100 prisoners, including Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, as well as activists who had been arrested for violating the protest law. “There are no political prisoners in Egypt, there are only people who are held in custody pending investigations,” Sisi said. “Only those who carry out violent acts against the state, such as terrorism and bombings, get detained,” he added. The president said that in the “presence of a faction that fights the state and the people,” the risk of the collapse of security institutions becomes greater than the human rights abuses that may occur….


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