Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned 100 prisoners to mark the occasion of Eid al-Adha, which is a Muslim holiday that starts on Thursday.
Journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have now been released from prison http://t.co/12MC5Dy9zR #FreeAJStaff pic.twitter.com/l3VyNkJDAc
— AJE News (@AJENews) September 23, 2015
Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian Baher Mohamed and Australian Peter Greste were sentenced to three years in prison last month during a retrial where they were accused of operating without a press license and broadcasting material that is harmful to Egypt. In February of this year Peter Greste was deported back to his native Australia.
President #Sisi just issued a Presidential Pardon releasing 100 of Egyptian activists including #aljazeera Reporter Mohamed Fahmy & others.
— Egypt MFA Spokesman (@MfaEgypt) September 23, 2015
An announcement was made on President Sisi’s Facebook page, saying that he would release “100 young people trapped in issues related to the breach of the law on demonstrations and some humanitarian and health cases”.
Talking to Al Jazeera, Peter Greste said that he was “overjoyed” with the news that Mohamed and Fahmy were being released.
Amazing night on #MediaCircus, recording the show when Peter Greste heard that his colleagues had been pardoned. pic.twitter.com/wNXGGuIMbq
— Craig Reucassel (@craigreucassel) September 23, 2015
“More than anything else, we’ve been concerned for their safety, concerned for their welfare,”
“President Sisi has taken a very important step in restoring confidence in the system but it is only a partial step,” Greste said.
