Egyptian authorities have cracked down on pro-Palestine protests since the war started on 7 October 2023 [Getty]
Rights advocates and journalists in Egypt are calling on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to pardon prominent political prisoners ahead of the start of Ramadan in 10 days’ time.
Khaled el-Balshy, the head of the journalists’ union and government critic, publicly urged the president to release 25 journalists and all political prisoners to mark the start of the holy month.
“I renew my demand for the release of all imprisoned colleagues, pardoning those who have been sentenced, and releasing all prisoners of conscience, including all peaceful opposition and those imprisoned for expressing solidarity with Palestine,” he wrote in a statement on social media.
El-Balshy was joined by popular pro-government commentator Amr Adib, who expressed hope that al-Sisi will decide to grant amnesty to political detainees.
“I am with freedom for all,” Adib declared on his talk show on the Saudi-funded MBC Masr.
Prominent rights lawyer Tarek al-Awady – also a member of the presidential amnesty committee – in a Facebook video urged the president to “release and pardon prisoners held on political charges, who have not carried weapons or committed violence”.
Following the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the Sisi regime oversaw the arrest of thousands of people amid a severe crackdown on all opposition to its rule.
Progress was made in 2023 when the government released hundreds of political prisoners under its ‘National Dialogue‘ initiative, though momentum has since stalled and thousands of government critics remain behind bars.
Most journalists detained by the government have been held in pre-trial detention for multiple years, with some spending seven years behind bars with facing trial.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Wednesday issued a statement urging the government to immediately free the dozens of people detained on terror-related charges for posting anti-Sisi content online.
Security forces have arrested at least 59 people for interacting with a popular online anti-government group since late December. The detainees were subjected to enforced disappearance until the middle of February when they were brought before prosecutors, according to Amnesty.
“The authorities under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi relentlessly go after virtually anyone critical of the government even if through posting social media content,” Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt researcher at Amnesty, told The New Arab.
“The country has been for years an open air prison where actual or perceived critics are subject to enforced disappearance and prolonged arbitrary detention. All those held solely for practicing their right to freedom of expression must be released,” he said.
