(AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI)
In commemoration of Sinai Liberation Day, interim President Adly Mansour issued on Sunday a presidential decree pardoning a number of prisoners who have served over half their time in prison
Due on Friday, Sinai Liberation Day commemorates the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982.
The pardoned prisoners have to have served at least six months in prison, state television cited presidential spokesman Ihab Badawi as saying. Those sentenced to life in prison would be released if they have served 15 years by Friday; they would be put under surveillance for five years following their release, as per the Penal Code.
The presidential pardon excludes prisoners charged with crimes or misdemeanours that pose “internal or external threats to state security”, reported state television. Perpetrators of crimes related to bribery, forgery, drug trade, illicit gains, money laundering, explosives, stalling transportation or vandalising public institutions will also not be pardoned, among other charges.
Presidential pardons are a routine procedure usually issued ahead of national holidays and occasions
A recent presidential pardon was issued by Mansour on 19 January, commemorating the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution, which coincides with Police Day.
