Regime critics were commonly added to the terror watch list after they had fled the country to limit their ability to return home or access their funds. [Getty]  Â
Egyptian authorities removed 716 names from the country’s terrorism watchlist “after they ceased committing illegal activities against the state and its institutions”.
“The move came as part of the state’s directives towards reviewing the legal statuses of the individuals in question after investigations about their connection to possible suspicious or illegal activities,” read an official statement by the Egyptian prosecutor-general’s office released on Sunday.
“The remaining persons are under review for others who have also ended their involvement in such activities to be removed from the list,” the statement added.
No further details were immediately available about the identities or political affiliations of the individuals removed from the list.
Egyptian law dictates that those added to the terror watchlist must have their financial assets frozen and their passports confiscated, among other measures.
In May this year, an Egyptian cassation court overturned an earlier verdict against former footballer Mohamad Aboutrika, who is currently living in Qatar, finally lifting him from the blacklist.
The exact number of Egyptians currently on the country’s terror watchlist is unknown, but is thought to amount to nearly 1,500, according to unconfirmed reports.
Regime critics were commonly added to the terror watchlist after they had fled the country to limit their ability to return home or access their funds, including many members of the Muslim Brotherhood — a group proscribed in 2014.
In April last year, Egyptian security services listed 33 journalists on a new “terrorism” watchlist among 82 people, including activists, politicians, and human rights defenders, most of them living in self-exile outside the country.
In 2015, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ratified the controversial “Terrorist Entities Law” that targets groups or entities, whether operating inside or outside Egypt, to impede, attack the country or citizens, or cause them harm in any possible way.
Since taking power in a 2013 military coup, Sisi has fiercely clamped down on opposition and media freedom in Egypt.
Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of Sisi’s critics have been jailed Egypt — including many who have never stood trial.
