A committee tasked with recommending Egyptian youth prisoners for presidential pardon submitted three lists on Thursday to the Egyptian presidency for review, in the framework of compiling a second list of prisoners to be pardoned, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. Committee member Tareq El-Kholi told Al-Ahram that the three lists include youth prisoners who received final juidicial verdicts, detainees younger than 18, and other prisoners recommended for pardoning by the House of Representatives Human Rights Committee. On 17 November 2016, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi pardoned all 82 prisoners included on the first list recommended for pardon by the committee. The list included mostly students, but also recommended former TV host and Islamic studies researcher Islam El-Behery and Ahmed Saeid, MD. El-Sisi called in late October for the committee to be formed to review the cases of youth imprisoned for “politically related crimes," as well cases with humanitarian significance—families with more than one member imprisoned, for example. The committee includes prominent politicians, a journalist, and a member of Egypt's National Council for Human Rights. In 2015, the president pardoned 100 prisoners, including dozens who were convicted of violating the 2013's controversial protest law. Article 155 of the Egyptian constitution stipulates that the president may issue a pardon or mitigate a sentence after consulting with the cabinet.
