Egypt presidency pardons more than 1,000 prisoners

By Hussein Elkabany

CAIRO

Egyptian authorities on Tuesday announced the release of 1,118 prisoners through a presidential pardon.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that procedures for the release of 395 prisoners -- and the conditional release of 723 others -- had been finalized.

The statement did not say whether those to be released had been convicted for “political” offenses.

It is the second such presidential pardon of its kind in recent history. On Friday, 66 other prisoners were also set free.

In May, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued pardons for 332 incarcerated youths charged with taking part in unauthorized protests.

In October of 2016, al-Sisi established a commission to look into the possibility of issuing amnesties for incarcerated youths.