News briefing
By: CFJ
Geneva: September 10, 2023
Members of the Presidential Pardon Committee, which was reactivated by Egyptian President Sisi in April 2022, published alleged pardon lists on 30 August and officially confirmed the release of political prisoners on the list from Egyptian prosecution. However, this has not happened yet.
CFJ can confirm that three individuals who were granted release orders had their detention renewed by the prosecution. The rest of them were gradually referred to an appeals chamber, which is an unprecedented occurrence since the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee.
CFJ’s teams confirmed the presence of these names in the pardon decision despite the renewal of their imprisonment, and they are as follows:
1- Diaa al-Rahman Munir Zaki Abd al-Muttalib, case No. 440 of 2022.
2- Abdel-Jawad Qenawi Abdel-Jawad Qenawi, case No. 1635 of 2022.
3- Ayman Mohamed Mohamed Abu Hamed, case No. 1691 of 2022.
4- Ali Mamdouh Salim Hussein, case No. 1691 of 2022.
5- Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Mansour, case No. 1691 of 2022.
6- Mohamed Hamdi Mohamed Imam, case No. 1691 of 2022.
7- Mohamed Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Abdel Al, Case No. 1691 of 2022.
8- Mohamed Ali Abdel Azim Rudaini, case No. 1691 of 2022.
9- Mahmoud Mohamed Metwally Ali, case No. 1691 of 2022.
10- Mahmoud Mohamed Mohamed al-Husseini Mohamed, case No. 1691 of 2022.
11- Naji Islam Mustafa Naji Rifai, case No. 1691 of 2022.
12- Hani Mohamed Al-Sayed Hussein, case No. 1691 of 2022.
13- Saeed Ahmed Al-Saeed Al-Sayed Saad, case No. 1893 of 2022.
14- Mr. Mohamed Hassan Abdel Fattah, case No. 1893 of 2022.
15- Abd al-Rahman Mohamed Saad Jibril, case No. 1893 of 2022.
16- Abdullah Kamal Rizq Fayed, case No. 1893 of 2022.
17- Mohamed Saad Ahmed Abu Zaid, case No. 1893 of 2022.
18- Mahmoud Youssef Al-Sayed Abdel Rahman, case No. 1893 of 2022.
19- Marwan Youssef Al-Sayed Abdel Rahman, case No. 1893 of 2022.
20- Mustafa Ramadan Abdo Abdel Mohsen, case No. 1893 of 2022.
21- Mustafa Mohamed Mahmoud Mohamed Shalabi, case No. 1893 of 2022.
22- Haitham Salim Abdel Raouf Salim, case No. 1893 of 2022.
23- Fathi Dahi Nour El-Din Abu Al-Dahab, case No. 2094 of 2022.
24- Maher Hamdi Abdel Rahim Mohamed, case No. 2094 of 2022.
25- Mohamed Ahmed Ali Abu Zaid, Case No. 2216 of 2022
26- Taha Mahmoud Taha Mohamed, case No. 2515 of 2022.
27- Fares Wafdi Abdel Tawab Abdel Baqi, case No. 2723 of 2022.
28- Tariq Mohamed Musaad Yassin Shabar, case No. 184 of 2023.
29- Essam Ali Ahmed Khalil Salem Sayed, case No. 184 of 2023.
30- Karim Shaaban Hassan Mahfouz, Case No. 191 of 2023.
Need to adopt a less contradictory and more clear policy:
CFJ believes that this situation is a result of the lack of transparency and established regulations for the Presidential Pardon Committee’s work. CFJ had previously called for setting clear guidelines for the committee’s operation and establishing an objective monitoring mechanism, which has not been implemented so far.
CFJ reiterated its call to the Egyptian authorities to adopt a less contradictory and more transparent policy regarding the boundaries and powers of the Presidential Pardon Committee, and to increase the number of those released and expand the scope of its work, to ultimately include all prisoners of conscience in Egypt.
