Why jailed founders of Egyptian youth movement have not been pardoned
The youth pardon committee set up by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has not recommended the release of three young political activists who participated in Egypt’s revolutions.
On Nov. 14, Egypt’s Detained Youth Committee issued a list of detainees to be pardoned, but the list did not contain the names of a group of youths who are well known in the political and revolutionary scene, namely Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Douma and Ahmed Maher, founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. Their exclusion from the list did not take into account the call of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to release them.
On Oct. 27 and as part of the recommendations of a youth conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decision to form the presidential Detained Youth Committee, under the direct supervision of the presidency and whose mission would be to conduct a thorough examination of the young people in custody.
Following Sisi’s announcement of the committee's formation, NCHR member Abu Saada said in a press statement Oct. 31, “The NCHR has repeatedly called for releasing Douma, Abdel Fattah and Maher along with other activists who are unknown to the media, with hopes of easing the political tension and reaching political reconciliation between the forces of the June 30 Revolution — but the government is taking a strict stance against these young people.”
Journalist Nashwa al-Hofy, a member of the Detained Youth Committee, raised controversy when she blogged Nov. 13 about “refusing the idea of releasing Abdel Fattah, Douma and Maher, because they were sentenced on charges of assaulting police officers, soldiers and the state’s facilities as well as insulting the judiciary.”
