Detained Youth Committee reviews names for second pardon list

Members of the Detained Youth Committee will review reports received from the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and several political parties in their meeting on Sunday, in order to discuss the names recommended for a second list of pardons, according to member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Tarek El-Khouly.

El-Khouly said on Friday that the second list will soon be concluded as they have reviewed a large number of prisoners.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had pardoned 82 prisoners from dozens of governorates on Thursday after receiving the committee’s first list of recommendations; however, the list originally contained 83. Of the 83 people listed, 22 were students and another 22 were workers. The list also included two journalists and prominent prisoners, such as TV presenter Islam Al-Beheiry and doctor Ahmed Saeed.

By Friday, roughly 65 prisoners had been released from Tora prison.

The list was proposed by the Detained Youth Committee, which was established by the presidency during the National Youth Conference in October to review the status of detainees, especially young students. Veteran politician Osama Al-Ghazali Harb had called for the release of young detainees during the conference, and was put in charge of the committee.

El-Khouly said the first list contained many prisoners that had received long prison sentences, including life sentences, for their involvement in protests. According to committee member Mohamed Abdel Aziz, the first list included more prisoners serving long sentences than those serving short sentences.

Source: Daily News Egypt