The presidency has pardoned 424 prisoners on Friday to mark Eid Al-Fitr, state news agency MENA reported. The decision is in keeping with the convention of pardoning prisoners during national and religious holidays. In addition to the release of the 424 inmates, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi also offered a conditional release for 101 other prisoners. According to presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef, the pardoned prisoners include inmates who had spent over 15 years in jail prior to 25 January of this year. The pardon also includes prisoners who have served half of their prison terms to date, if those terms are longer than six months. Pardoned prisoners remain on parole for five years, while those offered conditional releases remain on parole until the expiration of their sentence. In June, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree pardoning 165 people on the occasion of Ramadan. The pardoned prisoners had been sentenced in cases related to breaching the protest law and other misdemeanours, but did not include high profile activists. Most of the names in the list the presidency released are students and minors who were sentenced and convicted for illegal protesting, possessing weapons, or belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The presidency has issued pardons to mark Eid festivals, Ramadan, Christmas and the anniversary of the liberation of Sinai. To mark the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution this year, the presidency pardoned some 119 inmates and offered a conditional release to 193 others, a number much lower than was expected. Egypt's penal code stipulates that in order to be granted amnesty, prisoners must display good conduct whilst in detention, not represent a threat to general security, and have fulfilled their financial obligations and paid any outstanding debts. Local activist networks and NGOs believe that over 40,000 people have been detained since the July 2013 regime change, detentions they hold to be primarily political.
