Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued on Friday 23 June an official pardon for 502 prisoners, including some of the prisoners in cases related to holding demonstrations and protests, according to the Egyptian presidency statement. Al-Sisi assigned the minister of interior to implement the decision, which includes a number of prisoners suffering from health issues who have already served three quarters of their jail sentences, and to release the pardoned prisoners before Eid Al-Fitr. The presidential pardon includes 175 young men under the age of 30, eight university staff members, three lawyers, and five engineers, according to the presidency's statement. During his presidency term, President Al-Sisi had issued two previous pardon decisions for citizens imprisoned for violating the 2013 Protest Law. The two previous decisions included 285 prisoners. The presidential pardon includes businessman Hisham Talaat Mustapha who was serving a 15-year jail sentence after being accused of taking part in the murder case of artist Suzan Tamim in Dubai in 2008. Also, the pardon includes the former dean of the Faculty of Dawah (Inviting to Islam) at Al-Azhar University, Abdullah Barakat, who was serving a life prison sentence for being accused in the case known as "cutting Qalyub Road" during demonstrations after the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
