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Egypt Presidential Pardon Committee Paves Way for Release of 1,000 Detainees

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian Presidency Spokesman)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian Presidency Spokesman)
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Egypt Presidential Pardon Committee Paves Way for Release of 1,000 Detainees

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian Presidency Spokesman)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (Egyptian Presidency Spokesman)

Members of Egypt's Presidential Pardon Committee are looking into the cases of over 1,000 detainees ahead of their release.

The committee was set up to address various cases, including those of political and rights activists and journalists.

Last month, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed his desire to hold political dialogue to discuss the “priorities of national work at this current time.”

Committee member Tariq Al-Awadi said in televised statements on Monday that the panel is examining the files of 1,074 detainees ahead of an order for their release.

The detainees include people who have been sentenced and others who are held in custody and who meet certain conditions set by the committee.

Since its formation, the committee had called on parties, syndicates, rights groups, and individuals to provide it with requests and documents of the cases they are hoping would be included in a pardon.

Member Karim El-Sakka said one of the main tasks of the committee is to handle political detainees. It does not handle cases tied to "acts of violence".

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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo

Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Monday as set out in the deal.

The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there - all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Monday at 4 a.m (0200 GMT).

The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.

"There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement," Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

"We've also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do," he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.

Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday's deadline.

Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure "the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”

Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters" to recover Lebanese land "from the occupation's clutches," Hezbollah said.