![Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi attends the opening session of the 30th Arab League Summit in Tunis, Tunisia on 31 March 2019 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/20190331_2_35745677_43163656.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Egyptian authorities released 542 Egyptian prisoners throughout last week’s Eid Al-Adha, including 228 who received presidential pardons and 314 who received conditional release, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.
Anadolu said that it was not clear whether or not this number included political prisoners, noting this is the second batch of prisoners to be released in two weeks.
On 11 August, 1,634 prisoners received presidential pardon.
It is worth noting that the number of political prisoners in Egypt stands at over 40,000, according to the Muslim Brotherhood and human rights groups. The Egyptian authorities, however, say the number only reaches several thousands.
Egypt claims that Muslim Brotherhood members are not political prisoners, despite the fact that they were imprisoned on charges of affiliation with a banned organisation.
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