Egypt president pardons 2,674 prisoners

Egypt’s Prison Authority yesterday released 2,674 prisoners from jail after a presidential pardon was issued on the occasion of Sinai Liberation Day, Egypt Today reported.

According to local media, this is the second presidential pardon within a week as 1,686 prisoners were released on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Prison Authority did not give details about the conditions, names, or backgrounds of the prisoners included in the pardon, but it is widely expected that most of them were not political prisoners.

Such measures are usually applied to prisoners who have fulfilled the conditions of the pardon after their files were examined, no information has been released about the conditions.

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Presidential pardons are announced on national and religious occasions.

According to Article 155 of the Constitution, the president is able to issue pardons only after a final ruling has been issued.

Prisoners involved in certain crimes are not eligible for a pardon, Egypt Today said, pointing to arms trafficking, terrorism, drug trafficking of more than ten kilogrammes, heroin trade regardless of the quantity, and revenge killings.

Seventeen Egyptian prisoners, including Sheikh Abdel Halim Gabreel, an 80-year-old Qur’an teacher, were executed yesterday, on fabricated charges in the case known in the media as the “Kerdasa massacre”.