• 16:53
  • Friday ,18 November 2016
العربية

Pardoned young detainees allowed to walk free: State TV

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12:11

Friday ,18 November 2016

Pardoned young detainees allowed to walk free: State TV

 Dozens of young prisoners pardoned by Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi were released early on Friday, Egypt's state TV reported.

El-Sisi pardoned on Thursday 82 detainees, including many university students jailed for protesting and a former TV host convicted of blasphemy.
 
State TV said 65 of those pardoned were released from Tora Prison, a sprawling complex in southern Cairo.
 
The names of those pardoned were compiled by a committee tasked by El-Sisi in October with examining the cases of young detainees jailed over protesting or charges related to freedom of expression.
 
On the same occasion, during an October youth conference, the president promised to amend the controversial Protest Law under which hundreds of young people have been jailed and which rights groups have condemned as unconstitutional.
 
Among those released was Islam Behery, a TV presenter and Islamic studies researcher who had been serving a one-year sentence for "defaming religious symbols" since December last year.
 
During his show, he questioned the credibility of some of the sources of Prophet Muhammad's sayings, a prime source of Islamic jurisprudence, while discussing religious texts.
 
Thursday's pardons were the first in a series, as a second list of detainees are expected to be pardoned before the end of the year.
 
Members of the committee tasked with compiling the lists have said members of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted president Mohamed Morsi would not be pardoned.