President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is expected to issue a presidential pardon to 200 political prisoners within the next few days. Among those expected to be pardoned are a number of university students, sources in the Interior Ministry told Daily News Egypt on Tuesday, on condition of anonymity. The presidential pardon will be executed on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha according to a list of names prepared by divisions within the Interior Ministry, which includes the Prisons Authority and human rights sector. Like previous pardons issued by Al-Sisi, this pardon will include prisoners who are not jailed over charges related to drug dealing, homicide, or any crime that represents a threat to Egypt's national security. The list of pardoned prisoners reported includes well-known political prisoners, according to local media reports. In July, the state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) prepared a list of young political detainees with the hope that they may be granted a pardon. According to the council, there have been ongoing demands for the release of a number of political detainees, and NCHR has compiled a list of detainees who they claim did not engage in violence and request to be released.
