The Egyptian Ministry of Interior pardoned 596 prisoners on Tuesday in honour of the 23 July Revolution celebration day. The decision comes in implementation of presidential decree No. 280 for 2017. The Prison Service sector in the Interior Ministry held committees to examine the files of prisoners across the nation to determine who deserves pardoning the remaining years of their sentences and found that the conditions applied to 493 prisoners. Moreover, the ministry also provided a conditional pardon to an additional 103 prisoners. "This comes within the framework of the Ministry of Interior's keenness to apply the modern concept of the penal policy, taking care of prisoners and implementing the executive approach of releasing prisoners who have been rehabilitated to involve the society,'' read a ministry statement. The ministry grants pardons to prisoners in a regular manner before major religious and national occasions. A month ago, a presidential pardon was made to 502 prisoners before the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, including prominent businessperson Hesham Talaat Moustafa, who was released for medical conditions. The prisoners who have been released included 25 women and a large number of youth jailed in cases involving protesting and gathering issues, according to state news agency MENA.
