Egypt: Ahead of end of holy month Ramadan, Egyptian govt releases 41 political prisoners

Nearly a week before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Egyptian government released at least 41 prisoners on Sunday, April 24. Those who were freed on April 24 were those who were facing political detention. According to a state-run media, all the prisoners who were released were either political activists or the family members of former stalwart leaders. Though the government’s human rights body, in a statement released on Sunday, confirmed there had been a release of individuals held in pre-trial detention, but mentioned no additional details.

Notably, this was not the first time when the Egyptian government released a number of detainees on presidential pardons before the end of Ramadan. However, the number of those freed was one of the largest in recent years.  Thousands of political prisoners, however, are estimated to remain inside Egypt’s jails, many without trial.

According to local media reports, those who were released included political activist Waleed Shawky, his wife Heba Anees, Journalist Mohamed Salah, activist Esraa Abdel Fattah, and human rights lawyer Nabeh Elganadi. Apart from these, Radwa Mohamed, who was arrested after making videos posted on social media criticising President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was also released by the government. 

New arrests still taking place

Under broad counterterrorism laws, Egypt’s state prosecutors have often used vague charges to renew 15-day pretrial detention periods for months or years, often with little evidence, reported AP.  It is evident to note that on one hand, the Egyptian government were releasing the prisoners, on the other hand, new arrests are still taking place.

As per the local media reports, human rights lawyer Khaled Ali said several men in the country’s south had been arrested and accused of spreading lies after they sang a song about rising food prices in a video posted online on Saturday. 

(With inputs from AP, Image: Unsplash)