The announcement of pardons are for Patrick George Zaki, a human rights researcher who was jailed after publishing an article regarding the treatment of the Christian minority in Egypt, and Mohamed El-Baqer, a human rights lawyer.
Egypt announced presidential pardons for two of its most prominent political prisoners on Wednesday, including one researcher who had been sentenced to three years behind bars just the day before.
The announcement of pardons for Patrick George Zaki, a human rights researcher who was jailed after publishing an article regarding the treatment of the Christian minority in Egypt, and Mohamed El-Baqer, a human rights lawyer, came ahead of a national holiday Thursday.
“Baqer and Patrick should not have spent one day in jail for their human rights work,” said Hossam Bahgat, leader of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. “We welcome the news of their pardon and call for the immediate release of thousands still detained in Egypt on political grounds.”Zaki, a researcher for EIPR, was detained in 2020 after returning home to Egypt from Italy, where he was studying at the University of Bologna.
Egypt has faced growing scrutiny over the past two years for its human rights record, with the United States announcing early last year it would suspend some of its massive aid package to Egypt over such concerns. Advocacy groups say tens of thousands of political prisoners have been detained during President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi’s decade in power, some on the basis of social media posts deemed critical of the government.
Over the past two years, Egypt has launched several initiatives it says are intended to improve its human rights record. Critics say they are largely for show. A national dialogue is underway that Sisi’s government has billed as a chance for voices from different political backgrounds to discuss the country’s future. Rights groups, meanwhile, decried arrests that continued the same week the dialogue was launched.
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