Cairo: Egypt released more than three dozen prisoners on Sunday, a week before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is usually a time of amnesty, a political party and state-run media said.
Political activists and family members confirmed that several high-profile detainees had been released.
The Reform and Development Party said those freed were political prisoners held in pre-trial custody. The English edition of the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said a total of 41 prisoners had been released.
The government’s human rights body only said in a statement that the persons held in pre-trial custody had been released, but did not provide any details.
Egyptian journalist Mohamed Salah talks on the phone in Cairo after being released from the police station in Al-Abasya district on April 24, 2022. (AFP)
The move comes a week before the Eid holiday at the end of Ramadan. This is usually a time when prisoners are released on presidential pardons, but the number of those freed was the largest in recent years. However, thousands of political prisoners are estimated to remain in Egyptian prisons, many without trial.
Among those released was political activist Waleed Shawki, his wife Heba Anees said on social media. He posted a picture of the couple embracing.
Journalist Mohamed Salah was also released, activist Esra Abdel Fattah said. And human rights lawyer Nabeh Elgnadi posted a photo with Radwa Mohamed, who was arrested after posting a video on social media criticizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Under broader anti-terrorism laws, Egypt’s state prosecutors have often used vague charges to renew a 15-day pre-trial detention period for months or years with little evidence.
On Sunday, Sana Seif, sister of Ala Abdel Fattah, one of Egypt’s most high-profile detained activists, said her brother had faced new abuse in prison and was on his 22nd day of a hunger strike.
At the same time, new arrests are also being made. On Saturday, human rights lawyer Khalid Ali said several people in the country’s south had been arrested and accused of spreading lies after he sang a song about rising food prices in a video posted online. Was.
Al-Sisi’s government – a US ally with deep economic ties with European countries – has been steadily silencing dissidents and cracking down on independent organizations with arrests, detention and prison sentences, and other sanctions.
Several top activists involved in the 2011 uprising in Egypt are now in prison, most of them arrested under a harsh law passed in 2013 that effectively bans all street protests.
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