Egypt’s pardoned prisoners still shackled
The Detained Youth Committee for Presidential Pardon has launched an initiative to examine reintegrating and rehabilitating pardoned prisoners to address the difficulties they face after their release.
CAIRO — Egypt’s Detained Youth Committee for Presidential Pardon will issue the latest list of inmates to receive pardons after the World Youth Forum, which kicks off in Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 4. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and relevant ministers are scheduled to make appearances at the six-day event.
The committee had launched an initiative on Sept. 26 to examine the issues of pardoned prisoners being able to return to their studies or government jobs as well as psychological rehabilitation programs to help them overcome the effects of incarceration.
Sisi established the Detained Youth Committee for Presidential Pardon last year, on Nov. 1, following a recommendation by the first National Youth Conference, held in Sharm el-Sheikh Oct. 24, 2016, to identify detained youths who appear to be eligible for pardons. Among those eligible, for example, are prisoners convicted of crimes related to politics.
In September 2015, dozens of political activists accused of violating the Protest Law and two journalists from Al Jazeera English allegedly involved in the so-called Marriott terror cell were released through a presidential pardon. Two years later, on March 13, Sisi issued a second pardon, releasing 203 young men sentenced for their role in rallies and protests. The third pardon followed on July 23, freeing 596 inmates, and 211 prisoners were released by a pardon issued on Sept. 12.
