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Egypt releases 15 political prisoners held in pretrial detention

June 14, 2022 at 8:40 am

Egyptian prison. [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images]

Egypt’s yesterday released 15 prisoners who had been held in pretrial detention

Human rights lawyer, Tarek Al-Awadi, said the detainees included “Islamist activist Magdy Korkor and producer Moataz Abdel-Wahab.”

Khalid Ali, another prominent rights lawyer, said that Abdel-Wahab and member of the Anti-Coup Alliance Korkor were arrested in 2019 and 2020 respectively, adding they were accused in “four cases.”

“The Cairo Criminal Court decided to release seven others in two other cases,” the rights advocate pointed out, explaining that the 15 defendants were accused in “six cases, mostly spreading false news.”

The release comes two months after the President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called for a national political dialogue without “exceptions or exclusion”, although members of the Muslim Brotherhood would not be allowed to partake. The talks are due to begin in July.

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