Egypt releases former lawmaker after presidential pardon

By Ibrahim El-Khazen

CAIRO (AA) - Egyptian authorities on Monday released activist Ziad El Alimi, who was serving a 5-year prison sentence, following an amnesty by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The presidential pardon committee said the decision came "in response to calls by various political parties.”

Al-Alimi, a 41-year-old former parliamentarian, lawyer, and left activist, was arrested along with seven more political figures in June 2019. They were accused of "joining a terrorist group and involvement in plots to target state institutions.”

The pardon committee was activated under a presidential directive in April, coinciding with El-Sisi’s call to initiate national dialogue. Since then, hundreds of prisoners detained in cases of freedom of opinion and expression have been freed.

After the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Egyptian authorities carried out a relentless crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of supporters of the former president, and others from the Muslim Brotherhood.

*Writing by Ikram Imane Kouachi